‘People will die’: Elon Musk responds to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s mockery of Mars colonisation plan

Elon Musk, the Tesla chief and SpaceX founder responded to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's mockery of his ambitions to colonise Mars. In an interview with American talk show host Bill Maher, the astrophysicist disapproved of Elon Musk's Mars travel plans and claimed that his idea would never find any investors.

Defending his plans to set up a colony on Mars, Elon Musk shared the video of Tyson's viral rant and noted that Mars is crucial for humanity's long-term survival. Elon Musk in a post on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, “Wow, they really don’t get it. Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness.”

As Elon Musk emphasised the importance of Mars for human survival, he asserted that he would not seek venture capital investment. “I’m not going to ask any venture capitalists for money. I realize that it makes no sense as an investment. That’s why I’m gathering resources,” the post reads.

An advocate of Mars colonisation as the ultimate solution for humanity's long-term survival, the tech billionaire's company SpaceX's Mars program plans to set up a self-sustained large-scale settlement on the distant planet. This will serve as an alternate for humans on Earth, if the planet becomes unsustainable for human life.

Meanwhile, Neil deGrasse Tyson, sceptical of Elon Musk's plans, feels that humankind should focus on immediate challenges on Earth rather than wasting resources and energy elsewhere. During the show, the astrophysicist reasoned that the Mars project would offer no returns, and hence, no one would be willing to invest.

At the show, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “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.”

In another post, the SpaceX founder asserted that “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" in case he failed to create a colony on Mars. Notably, SpaceX is set to launch its first uncrewed mission to Mars in the next two years.