Robert Zubrin quite literally wrote the book on why humanity should go to Mars — so why has the renowned aerospace engineer soured on Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur leading the charge?In an interview, the 73-year-old founder of the Mars Society delivered a blistering critique, accusing the world’s richest person of undermining the mission through divisive politics and a bleak vision of the Red Planet as an escape from Earth rather than a journey of hope.”On one level, he’s absolutely instrumental in opening up this opportunity to get humans to Mars, both through the development of Starship and also the inspiration that has caused,” Zubrin told AFP, referring to Musk’s prototype rocket.”But for it to succeed, it has to go beyond these — this initiative cannot be seen as a Musk hobbyhorse or a Trump hobbyhorse — it must be seen, at a minimum, as America’s program, or preferably the Free World’s program.”Zubrin’s 1996 book “The Case for Mars,” since updated numerous times, laid out a practical blueprint for reaching and settling the Red Planet using existing technologies and local resources — with the ultimate goal of transforming the atmosphere for long-term human habitation.- Supporter turned critic -The book won praise from Musk himself, who once posed with Zubrin at SpaceX’s Starship facility in Texas and called it “worth reading.”But today, Zubrin — who co-authored the Mars Direct plan in 1990, has published hundreds of papers, and invented several advanced propulsion concepts — sees troubling signs.While he described Musk as a “tremendously talented and forceful person,” he said his success has bred “hubris and arrogance,” comparing him to Napoleon as he thumped his fist for emphasis.He was especially critical of Musk’s embrace of Donald Trump during the 2024 election and his role as the administration’s chainsaw-wielding cost slasher.”This combination of Trump and Musk is not going to persist forever,” Zubrin warned, in an interview conducted before the pair’s relationship imploded Thursday in a spectacular public row.”And if this program is identified as their deal, it will be crushed as soon as opposing forces have sufficient power.”During their fight Thursday, Trump called Musk “crazy” threatened to terminate his government contracts worth billions of dollars.Zubrin also condemned Trump’s efforts to gut NASA’s space science budget — a move he sees as fundamentally at odds with the exploratory spirit of the Mars endeavor. The Mars Sample Return mission — aimed at retrieving specimens collected by the Perseverance rover — is among the biggest science projects on the chopping block.Although the mission, developed with the European Space Agency, has suffered delays and budget overruns, Zubrin said eliminating it entirely rather than reforming it would be a mistake.”This threatens to brand this program with the mark of Cain of original sin — that this program is born with the blood of the murder of Space Science on it.”- Creative outpost -Where Zubrin still sees promise is in Starship — Musk’s massive prototype rocket aimed at making life multiplanetary, though the vessel’s repeated test explosions show there’s a long way to go.He diverges with Musk over how it should be used. Starship is far too large to serve as a Mars ascent vehicle, Zubrin said.The Mars expert has proposed a vessel he calls Starboat — a compact lander that could shuttle between planetary surfaces and orbit, using a fraction of the propellant and surface power.But his sharpest critiques are philosophical. He rejects Musk’s portrayal of Mars as a refuge from a dying Earth — a vision that echoes the works of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.”We’re not going to Mars out of despair,” Zubrin said. “We’re going to Mars out of hope… to establish new branches of human civilization which will add their creative capacity to that of humanity as a whole.”He sees Mars not as refuge but renewal, where a campaign beginning with robotic missions in the late 2020s and culminating in human landings by 2033 could inspire bipartisan support, showcase American ingenuity and restore national purpose.”If we do the kind of program that I advocated… we will once again, as we did in Apollo, astonish the world with what free people can do,” he said. “We’ll make it clear that freedom, not authoritarianism, is the future of the human race.”

A crewed mission to Mars would rank among the most complex and costly undertakings in human history — and US President Donald Trump has vowed to make it a national priority.That political momentum, coupled with SpaceX chief Elon Musk’s zeal, has breathed new life into a cause long championed by Red Planet advocates — even as major obstacles remain, including Trump and Musk’s latest feud.- Why go? -As NASA writes in its Moon to Mars blueprint, “exploration of the cosmos remains a great calling for humanity.”A mission to Mars would pursue scientific objectives like determining whether Mars ever hosted life and charting the evolution of its surface, as well as answering broader space physics questions — such as the history of the Sun through studying Martian soil.Geopolitics also looms large, as Trump has pledged to “plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond,” invoking the “unlimited promise of the American dream.”Critics, however, say cuts to NASA’s science budget and the cancellation of key projects — including the return of rock samples collected by the Perseverance rover — are undermining the research mission.”The purpose of exploration is not just to go somewhere,” Nobel-winning astrophysicist John Mather told AFP. “This is not a tourist thing. This is a fundamental knowledge thing.”- Getting there – Musk is betting SpaceX’s future on Starship, the largest rocket ever built, despite fiery failures in its nine test flights.He’s aiming for an uncrewed launch by late 2026, timed with the next favorable Earth-Mars alignment. But the timeline is widely seen as optimistic: Starship has yet to land its upper stage or demonstrate in-orbit refueling — both essential for deep space travel.Some experts believe the system is fundamentally sound, while others say it’s too soon to judge.”A lot of the pertinent and relevant technical information… is not known to us,” Kurt Polzin, chief engineer for NASA’s space nuclear propulsion project, told AFP.He backs Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP), which uses fission to heat hydrogen and generate thrust. NTP delivers “a lot of power in a very small package,” Polzin said, eliminating the need for orbital refueling or fuel production on Mars.Astronauts would spend seven to nine months in a cramped spacecraft, exposed to intense space radiation beyond Earth’s magnetosphere. Ideas to improve radiation shielding range from passive methods, like using dense materials, to active concepts such as plasma fields that deflect radiation, while drugs are being developed to reduce cell damage.Without a system to simulate gravity — such as rotational spin — crews would also need grueling exercise routines to counteract muscle and bone loss.Mental health is another concern. Growing plants aboard — more for morale than sustenance — has proved beneficial on the ISS.Communication delays further complicate matters. On the station, real-time data has helped prevent an average of 1.7 potentially fatal incidents per year, said Erik Antonsen, chair of NASA’s human systems risk board — but such communication will not be possible en route to Mars.- Life on Mars -Once on the surface, the uncertainties grow. Probes and rovers have found hints — organic molecules, seasonal methane — but no definitive signs of life. If it ever existed, it likely died out long ago.Still, Earth’s own “extremophiles” offer intriguing clues — from fungi that harness Chernobyl’s radiation for energy, to microbes that survived 500,000 years in frozen stasis.”If they can survive here in extreme environments, we have every reason to suspect they can be on Mars,” said NASA astrobiologist Jennifer Eigenbrode at the recent Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit.And while NASA has decided nuclear fission will power surface operations, other choices — from crop selection to habitat design — remain open.”Mars has a 24-hour, 39-minute day — that small difference creates strain, increases stress, and reduces sleep quality,” said Phnam Bagley, a space architect who designs for comfort and crew well-being — critical factors in preventing conflict.The first trip would be around 500 days on the surface, but long-term colonization raises deeper questions.For instance, scientists don’t yet know whether mammalian embryos can develop in low gravity — or what childbirth on Mars would entail.”I think it’s really important to take that seriously,” said NASA’s Antonsen. “Even if you don’t plan on it happening, people are still going to have sex, and somebody might get pregnant. Then it becomes a medical issue.”

With one tweet linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Elon Muskreignites a long-running conspiracy theory beloved of the US president’s far right supporters.The tech billionaire — who exited his role as a top White House advisor just last week — alleged Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in secret government files on rich and powerful former Epstein associates.The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his “MAGA” movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein’s crimes.”Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as a growing feud with the president boiled over into a vicious public spat.”That is the real reason they have not been made public.”Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump’s base allege that Epstein’s associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others.They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, however, not at Trump himself, and no official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the material.Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about, and offered no evidence for his claim.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Thursday called Musk’s behavior “an unfortunate episode” adding the Tesla tycoon is “unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.”But the allegation prompted fresh demands for a release of the material — this time from Democrats keen on turning a MAGA conspiracy theory back on its proponents.Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking.Trump has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein sex trafficked underage girls.The president said ahead of his election last year that he would have “no problem” releasing files related to Epstein.The administration has made public over 63,000 pages tied to the JFK assassination, but Trump has not fully followed through on the Epstein files pledge.- ‘Terrific guy’ -PolitiFact investigated Trump’s denials and concluded that the president had flown on Epstein’s jet at least seven times, and noted that the pair attended the same parties in the 1990s. But it also said there was no evidence Trump visited Epstein’s island.”Terrific guy,” Trump, who was Epstein’s neighbor in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of Epstein.”He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre — who died by suicide in April, according to her family — filed a lawsuit saying he had flown her to sexual encounters with royals, politicians and others when she was underage.Thousands of pages of records from the case were released in 2019, and more in 2024, but they offered scant evidence of wrongdoing by famous figures.Lawmakers in the opposition Democrats jumped on Musk’s allegation to renew their calls for the release of more detailed files. “I called for the full release of the Epstein Files a month ago because of my suspicion that (Attorney General Pam Bondi) was concealing the files to protect Donald Trump,” New York congressman Dan Goldman posted on X. “Now my suspicion has been confirmed.”His fellow House Democrat Ted Lieu of California said Musk’s accusation had confirmed his own belief that Trump is “all over the Epstein files.””I urge the Department of Justice to release all the Epstein files. What is the Trump Administration hiding?” he said.Tim Miller, a former Republican National Committee spokesman turned fierce Trump critic, echoed the call.”The American people deserve to know if our president is a pedophile,” he posted on X.