Exclusive interview with Elon Musk and Jim Bridenstine about #DM2, SpaceX's first crewed launch!We spoke in the historic Firing Room 4 at Kennedy Space Center where SpaceX will command the rocket to launch for Demonstration Mission 2 with Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley!
After Elon Musk gave his presentation about the progress of SpaceX's Starship program, I had the opportunity to pick his brain just a little. In general I wanted to let him talk a lot and see where his mind went, but luckily for us aerospace enthusiasts, I got a little juicy extra bit of conversation at the end. Space missions need to have a defensive component or economic benefit. With economic returns often uncertain, space programmes have tended to be led by governments, because only they can invest in programmes that have a long-term pay-off, whether economic or geopolitical. When it comes to saving humanity from an asteroid impact, Tyson stressed that rather than establishing colonies in space, we would be better to try to deflect the asteroid.