Martian dream vs reality | Expert Views

Elon Musk has unveiled an audacious vision: A million-strong Martian metropolis. For his SpaceX team, it’s a heady mix of sci-fi fantasy (think spacesuits, domed habitats, the prospects of an interplanetary baby boom, and zipping around in Tesla Cybertrucks on a new world) and logistical nightmare. The American entrepreneur’s grand blueprint has reignited the question: Can we really colonise Mars?

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometres above Earth, a different narrative has unfolded. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are stranded aboard the International Space Station, after a malfunction in their cutting-edge Boeing Starliner. Their prolonged stay serves as a