Plant an American flag on Mars?

Plant an American flag on Mars?


“We will send American astronauts to plant [notre] Flag on the planet Mars, “said Donald Trump during his inaugural speech on January 20, in a passage where it was a question of territorial expansion and” manifest destiny “. Is this a short-term plausible dream?

In the speech in question, no date was mentioned. However, during the electoral campaign, in October, Trump said that this would happen during his mandate.

As for his new close advisor, the billionaire Elon Musk, he has often made excessively optimistic forecasts. Already in 2016, he announced for 2022 a first mission to March of his company SpaceX, without crew, and the first astronauts in 2024.

Trump
Donald Trump.

What are the technological obstacles?

SpaceX has so far made seven test flights from its giant rocket, called Starship (or until recently Super Heavy). The company also obtained from NASA the contract to develop the machine that will land on the moon with two astronauts, in 2027.

Except that a inhabited trip to Mars would require many more technological breakthroughs:

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