Astrophysicist mocks Elon Musk’s Mars colonisation plan: ‘People will die’

Elon Musk hit out at astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson after he mocked the tech billionaire’s quest to set up a colony on Mars. Speaking to American talk show host Bill Maher, Tyson criticised Musk’s Mars travel plans and said that his idea would never find any investors.
Musk has for long advocated the idea of Mars colonisation as the only way for humanity to survive. Musk’s space company SpaceX’s Mars program aims to establish a self-sustained large scale settlement on Mars to secure the long-term survival of humans in case Earth becomes unfit for human life.
Tyson, on the other hand, has elaborated that he wants humankind to focus on immediate challenges on Earth.
During the show, Maher asked Tyson about Musk’s plan to send humans to Mars. Tyson replied by poking holes in Musk’s plans to establish a Mars colony adding that no one would be willing to invest in a project that offers no returns.
“For him to just say, let’s go to Mars because it’s the next thing to do. What is that venture capitalist meeting look like? ‘So, Elon, what do you want to do?’ ‘I want to go to Mars?’ ‘How much will it cost?’ ‘$1 trillion.’ ‘Is it safe?’ ‘No. People will probably die.’ ‘What’s the return on the investment?’ ‘Nothing.’ That’s a five-minute meeting. And it doesn’t happen,” he said.
The Tesla CEO took to X and shared the video of Tyson’s viral rant with a response.
“Wow, they really don’t get it. Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness. Also, I’m not going to ask any venture capitalists for money. I realise that it makes no sense as an investment. That’s why I’m gathering resources,” he wrote.
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In another post, Musk said that even if he failed at creating a Mars colony, “the absurdly ambitious nature of the goal nonetheless results in the creation of alien-level technology that is crushingly better than competitors who merely aim for Earth orbit”.
Musk’s SpaceX will be launching its first uncrewed mission to Mars in the next two years.