Musk promised to send a humanoid robot to Mars in 2026

SpaceX owner Elon Musk has announced the sending of a humanoid robot, Optimus, to Mars. The Starship spacecraft, according to him, will depart for the Red Planet at the end of 2026. The billionaire did not name the exact date, but he previously admitted that the robot on board the spacecraft would depart for Mars in November 2026. If the landing of Optimus is successful, then sending people to Mars may become possible as early as 2029, although a more likely date for this event is 2031, he added.

In response to Elon Musk's post, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev suggested that the billionaire organize a joint mission of Russia and the United States to Mars in 2029. "Our minds and technologies should serve for the benefit of humanity, not for its destruction," Dmitriev wrote. According to Dmitriev, the project could become a continuation of the history of cooperation between states in space, recalling the legendary Soyuz-Apollo mission, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Let us add that today the Crew Dragon spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov departed for the ISS. Along with him on board the spacecraft are American astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, as well as Japanese Takuya Onishi. According to NASA, Crew Dragon took off at 19:03 local time (2:02 Moscow time) from Florida. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle undocked from it and landed on Earth. The flight will take about 14 hours. In a few days, Crew Dragon should also return to the planet the long-suffering astronauts, who were stuck on the ISS for nine months due to a malfunction of the spacecraft.