Words alone won't get the stars and stripes to Mars

Comment "America is going to Mars," said Elon Musk at yesterday's inauguration of US President Donald Trump. America is already there, thanks to decades of robotic exploration.

Musk's vision is to send humans to the Red Planet rather than the rovers rolling around the Martian surface. Those astronauts would then plant the American flag into the ground, much as the Apollo astronauts did on the Moon more than half a century ago.

Achieving such a feat – unlikely within President Trump's tenure but a priority thereafter – requires overcoming significant technological and logistical challenges.

From a technological standpoint, yes – it can be done. SpaceX's Starship has yet to reach orbit, and the last launch experienced a catastrophic failure, yet with sufficient funding the rocket could be made operational and sent to Mars with a crew onboard.

It would, however, be an unpleasant and potentially life-shortening experience for the ...