INTERVIEW – Donald Trump's promise to plant American colors on the Martian surface seems unrealizable before the end of the decade. Francis Rocard, specialist in the exploration of the Solar System, explains what it really is.
US President Donald Trump said at his inauguration that the United States « would pursue (their) manifest destiny (ideology according to which the American nation's divine mission is the expansion of civilization first to the west, then throughout the world, Editor's note) towards the stars, by sending American astronauts to plant the star-spangled banner on the planet Mars ». Elon Musk, present during this speech, was delighted with this announcement, giving two thumbs up.
Having become very close to the new president, the billionaire has never hidden his somewhat crazy dream of conquering Mars to make humanity the first multiplanetary species (and thus escape AI, which according to him constitutes an existential threat). But what meaning should we give to this announcement? What room for maneuver does the American president have to accelerate the conquest of Mars? To try to see things a little more clearly, we asked Francis…
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