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October 06, 2024
from
RT Website
Donald Trump (L) embraces Elon Musk
during a campaign rally in
Butler,
Pennsylvania, October 5, 2024 ©
Getty Images / Anna
Moneymaker
SpaceX owner Elon Musk
has argued that government regulations
are
the main obstacle to exploring the cosmos.
Former US President
Donald Trump has pledged to "reach
Mars" before
the end of his term in office, should he defeat Vice President
Kamala Harris next month.
SpaceX CEO
Elon Musk will lead the
mission, Trump declared.
Musk joined Trump for a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on
Saturday evening.
During the event, which took place at the site of
Trump's
attempted assassination in July, the 45th president issued a
series of familiar campaign promises - vowing to,
...as well as a pledge to reach the Red Planet before
2028.
"We will lead the world in space
exploration," he told the audience. "We will reach Mars before
the end of my term."
"Elon promised me that he was going to do that," Trump
continued, before turning to Musk and asking "I don't know, can
you do that?"
"We're gonna win, and he's gonna reach Mars
by the end of our term, which is a big thing, before China,
before anybody.
My money's on that guy [Musk]."
During his first term in office, Trump issued a
series of space-related executive orders and policy directives.
He
tasked NASA in 2017 with leading,
"the return of humans to
the Moon
for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human
missions to Mars and other destinations",
...and in 2019 established
the
US Space Force as the sixth branch of the country's military,
leading opponents to accuse him of militarizing space.
Musk, who endorsed Trump's campaign earlier this summer, has
promised for years to make humanity a "multiplanetary" civilization.
However, he blames excessive government regulation for delaying his
planned colonization of Mars...
Last month, Musk claimed that his
reusable SpaceX 'Starship' rocket would be ready for uncrewed
flights to Mars within two years, and for manned flights two years
later.
After the Federal Aviation Administration denied
SpaceX permission
to test the rocket before November due to environmental concerns,
Musk took to his X platform to complain that,
"we will never get
humanity to Mars if this continues."
"Unfortunately, we continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes
longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch
than it does to design and build the actual hardware," SpaceX wrote
in a statement at the time.
"This should never happen and directly
threatens America's position as the leader in space."
During his first term, Trump pushed the idea of cutting two
government regulations for every new one enacted.
If elected again,
he has promised to go further, telling the New York Economic Club
last month that he would,
"eliminate a minimum of 10 old regulations
for every one regulation" imposed.
Musk leaps onto stage at Trump rally
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