Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez said on Monday that the trip to Mars would be “15 years away.”
“As I always said… Space travel is not trivial. The next thing you need to do is retire from the International Space Station and invest it. You will invest its operational funds in developing a lunar base that needs to be developed, tested and proven the technology that needs to go to Mars.
“We're 15 years away from going to Mars, not the five years that Elon Musk suggests,” he added.
Hernandez's comments are scheduled to come to Earth after astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stayed at the International Space Station for nine months. On Sunday, NASA said it met with SpaceX, a spacecraft company of high-tech billionaire Elon Musk, to “assess the weather and splashdown conditions” off the coast of Florida, aiming “on favorable conditions” later Tuesday.
“The updated return target allows members of the space station crew to continue to complete their takeover duties and provide operational flexibility ahead of the whimsical weather conditions expected later that week,” NASA said in a press release.
In January, Trump said he ” asked Elon Musk and @spacex to “go” two brave astronauts who were effectively abandoned in space.”
“I just asked Elon Musk and @spacex to “go” two brave astronauts who were effectively abandoned in space by the Biden administration,” Trump wrote in his previous Social Post of Truth. “They waited for months at the @Space station. Elon will soon follow his path. Hopefully everything will be safe. Lucky Elon!!!”
Oka reached out to NASA and the White House for comments.
