This article was originally published on August 9, 2022.
SpaceX and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk recently said that the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969 was an “anomalous situation.”
What happened: “The fact that we were able to go to the moon in 1969 was such an anomalous situation, like reaching into the future and advancing technology,” Musk said on the Full Send podcast.
The landings that saw Neil Armstrong Being the first person to walk on the lunar surface is “not the natural pace of technological development,” said the SpaceX founder.
“It’s just that the United States just collectively decided that this needs to be done,” Musk said, referring to the space race between the US and the Soviet Union.
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Why it matters: Musk agreed with the podcast hosts that it’s “strange” that the US hasn’t returned to the lunar surface since 1972.
“We’re going to the moon, SpaceX has an asset contract to take astronauts to the moon,” Musk said, adding that it’s SpaceX’s Super Heavy Lift launch vehicle spaceship is “gigantic compared to anything that has been done before”.
“It is capable of delivering 100 tons of payload to the moon. They could build a lunar base with a spaceship.”
Musk said, “We could go well beyond what was done with the Apollo program, where they had a small lander.”
SpaceX would take astronauts to the moon before it takes them to Mars, the billionaire entrepreneur said.
“I think we should build a city on the moon and on Mars.”
Price promotion: On Monday, Tesla shares closed 0.8% higher at $871.27 in the regular session, gaining 0.8%, according to data in extended trading Data from Benzinga Pro.
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