Tesla CEO Elon Musk: ‘It's time to retire…'
has once again reiterated his call to deorbit the
International Space Station
(ISS). The Tesla and
SpaceX
CEO shared a post on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), writing: '
It's time to retire the Space Station and focus on Mars'.
Musk's comments came in response to a post that quoted another post about how the Big Beautiful Bill plans to spend money on space programs.
The ISS, launched in 1998, has hosted over 3,000 experiments. A 2021 study in Nature Communications suggests its microgravity research may be nearing redundancy, supporting Musk's push for Mars. In 2022, a
NASA report
estimated a $3-4 billion cost to extend its life, shifting resources to private companies like Axiom Space for new stations and Mars missions.
Notably, this is not the first time that Musk called for deorbiting the ISS. In February this year, he posted on X: 'It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let's go to Mars.'
In a follow up post, he then said that he was planning to recommend to President Donald Trump that the station be brought down "as soon as possible".
Elon Musk aims to land humans on Mars by 2029
The tech billionaire has been vocal about his
Mars mission
, posting about it on X several times. He envisions humanity's future on Mars, driven by the need to safeguard civilization from Earth's existential threats. So much so that he has often shared a timeline and also name of the first city on the red planet.
According to Musk's timeline, if these robotic landings prove successful, human missions to Mars could begin as soon as 2029, though he acknowledged that 2031 is a more realistic target date. 'If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,' he added.
He has previously proposed 'Terminus' as the name for the first Martian city.
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Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
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NDTV
7 hours ago
- NDTV
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NDTV
7 hours ago
- NDTV
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Shukla, who is the first Indian to reach the ISS, is also one of the four astronaut-designates for Gaganyaan. A student said that Shukla told them that astronauts hardly get any free time. "But they do watch things or play some sports," he said. "However, one thing that astronauts look forward to is to go out and gaze into space and take a good view of the Earth -- it is very beautiful," a student, who was part of the interaction, told PTI. Talking about the challenges of getting the body readjusted back on Earth, Shukla told his audience that the biggest challenge is the absence of gravity. "Space is a new situation for the body. So like today, I am feeling much better from what I was feeling on day one here," the astronaut said. "My body has now kind of adapted to microgravity, but when I return to Earth, my body would have to readapt to gravity. This is a challenge again, and this adaptation will be required on re-entering Earth. 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Another student said, "He told us that he finds such interactions immensely rewarding because this shows us the future we have and the possibilities that exist, so that we can see what lies ahead of us, and this is what we have to aim at." Wing Commander Pratap told the students in Lucknow to stay motivated for the next couple of decades, which will witness immense possibilities unfolding for human spaceflight in India. He spoke of the exciting and challenging career in aerospace sciences. "It was all so exciting. Group Captain Shubhanshu explained the varied nuances, challenges, and excitement of space travel, while Wing Commander Pratap motivated us to devote ourselves to science," a student said. "Among other things, we could either become researchers or join the armed forces as an experimental test pilot for an exciting and challenging career." Among other things, Wing Commander Pratap highlighted the traits of Shukla, with positivity being the key one. Another student said that when asked about how one stays fit in space where microgravity comes in play, Shukla said, "On Earth, we always have loading on our body due to gravity and the muscles are always utilised while walking, sitting, or even standing." "But that is not the case in microgravity, as one suffers muscle loss. It is very important for astronauts to keep exercising," Shukla told the students and spoke of his exercise routine. "There is a bicycle that we exercise on. Interestingly, there is no seat on the cycle because in microgravity, you are floating. So you just lock on to the pedals, tie yourself to the belt and then you start exercising. "There is also an exercise machine in which you can do all forms of exercises," he told the students while also demonstrating how one moves in space.
