MUMBAI: In a U-turn on his endorsement of Elon Musk’s grandiose plan to colonise Mars, US President Donald Trump has made it clear that human mission to the red planet is not a “number one’’ priority for him.
In a Fox interview on Sunday, he said though there was a lot of interest in going to Mars, it was not necessarily a high priority. The change in his stance is being seen as another step to clip Musk’s wings.
During his inaugural address on Jan 20, Trump had said, “American astronauts will plant the Stars and Stripes on planet Mars,’’ a statement then interpreted as unambiguous evidence of Musk’s influence on the Trump administration.
In fact, five days before the U-turn, Trump had told the joint session of US Congress on Mar 4 that he supported sending humans to Mars.
Last week, Trump clipped Musk’s wings telling his cabinet secretaries that the final authority over staffing and policy decisions lies with them within their agencies and not with Musk.
Trump took this step hours before Musk’s Space X Starship exploded after it lifted off from Texas on Mar 6.
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