Absolutely out of touch with reality - this is how the American astronaut William (Bill) Anders criticizes the entrepreneur Elon Musk (Handelsblatt, 11.02). Anders, 84, who flew to the moon with the Apollo 8 crew in 1968, said Musk’s plans for a Mars mission were “ridiculous”. “It is more difficult to fly to Mars than Musk and NASA admit,” the astronaut said.
According to him, the biggest problem during long space flights is radiation. “On the way to Mars, you're just fry,” Anders said. - The difficulty lies in the long stay in a state of weightlessness. People who land on Mars will not be able to walk: their muscles will be too weak."
Anders also said that Musk, who heads the space technology company SpaceX, is not promoting space exploration. “His plans distract us from other things. NASA should not be hypnotized by people like Musk. According to Anders, new communication satellites, meteorological observations and climatology are more important than helping an entrepreneur on his mission to Mars.