What do Tesla and SpaceX have in common? —- Elon Musk. The innovative CEO is charting a path for the future of technology.  If the Space X launch with Starman and the Tesla roadster is not an attestation to the future then what is? Tesla is changing how we drive. A car that can drive it self and be summoned by its driver is something reminiscent of the movie A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).  Something so futuristic it’s hard to believe that the future is now. There is also a new future for Tesla and of course Space X, a future not held by the limitations of Earth, another worldly future.

SpaceX’s mission is to “revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.” Musk’s vision is to have a fully inhabited self-sustaining base on Mars; the Red Planet Colony. Currently SpaceX is developing an Interplanetary Transportation Shuttle which aims to take between 100-200 people to Mars in 80 days (with the goal of reducing this time to 30 days) every 26 months within the next 50-100 years. The recent launch of SpaceX’s Heavy Falcon with Tesla payload in tow was to land on Mars however; the shuttle’s trajectory was overshot. In May of 2018, SpaceX plans to test launch new landing methods with an unmanned flight to Mars.

Man’s fascination with Space dates further than Galileo and in present day leaves a sense of wonderment of literally a new world.  In 2017, two private citizens made significant deposits to secure a flight to the moon aboard a SpaceX craft.  The cost of trip is estimated between 58 and 81 million dollars.    Considering the cost of the trip, and the plan by Musk for colonization of Mars, I could not help but to think of the movie Elysium. Elysium portrays an apocalyptic earth where the majority of the people are of low socioeconomic status, access to proper health care is limited, and the government is overly oppressive. Access to health care is presently is a struggle.

Currently 44 million Americans lack health insurance coverage. There is a continuing hollowing out of the middle class. There is ever growing merger into two distinct classes where there is no middle.  With this being said, who will really be going to Mars or living on a space colony? Perhaps, only those who can afford the trip. Who will be left here? Will Art imitate life or will Space travel eventually become as simple and affordable as taking an Uber, or will advances in space travel leave in its wake unresolved societal problems and a fresh start for those who can buy a new existence?

Dr. Priscilla Wright, Ph.D.,LPC,NCC

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