For the love of Robots… A Mars base needs Tesla’s Optimus.

For the love of Robots… A Mars base needs Tesla’s Optimus.

A Mars base in our lifetimes seemed like science fiction even 5 years ago, but the creation of SpaceX’s Starship program seems to have made the impossible tantalizingly possible.  However, the whole plan will fail if the infrastructure is not in place by the first human landing.  To make this happen…. SpaceX needs a robot.  Enter Tesla Optimus.

As far as polarizing individuals go… Elon Musk ranks right up there.  He seems to be portrayed in the press as either a visionary or a villain with very little room in between.  However, love him or hate him, history has shown that it unwise to doubt that he will carry through with plans that he publicly states.  

Taken at face value which are based on public statements we must believe that Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX intend to put humans on Mars in the relatively near future.  At The Mars Blueprint we have outlined “The Critical Six” factors needed to make a Mars Settlement possible.  SpaceX is very publicly building the technical means right now to cover the “Transportation” factor through the Starship program.  By any measure, getting there is obviously the hardest part – but it is not the factor that will ensure mission success.  That takes something else… on-site resources and the manpower – or robot power – put in place the basic infrastructure needed to make the mission and return trip a success.

So lets take a look at what Elon Musk has put out on Tesla’s Optimus and see why this unusual product – that seems so out of place right now – is actually the most important part of the Mars plan.

Optimus is supposed to be 5’ 8”, weigh 125lbs, can deadlift 150 lbs and walk at at speed of 5mph.  This makes it roughly comparable to a mid-sized healthy human.  It is designed to work in factory and other such hazardous and monotonous environments.  It is also supposed to have a version of the Tesla automation software allowing it to operate with limited human intervention. This combination of size, speed, lifting capability and remote operations ability is exactly what you would need to have a remote workforce building your Mars base ahead of a human landing.

So lets look at feasibly how many Optimus robots one Starship could transport without impacting other critical cargo like the chemical reactor needed to convert CO2 into Methane for the return trip, tools, raw materials for the base etc.  For a quick comparison, we know the current version of the Starlink Satellite weighs about 600lbs and 60 fit in one Falcon 9.  It is estimated that around 400 would fit in Starship if they used if for that.  Roughly speaking, 5x Optimus robots would be equivalent to one Starlink satellite in weight and size (depending on how creative they are with the packing).  Conservatively speaking… it would only require the equivalent footprint of 20 Starlink Satellites to transport 100 Optimus robots to Mars.  By any estimation, this is 100% possible and gives SpaceX a very large workforce available to them on day 1 of their first un-manned Mars landing.  

The second huge benefit to sending human form robots vs. custom non-human form versions is that EVERY tool they operate, and the on-site footprint needed to house them will be equally useful to the first humans that arrive.  It also means that costs come down considerably because instead of spending millions developing specialized tools that only a specialized robot can use, SpaceX is essentially opening up the full resources – and cost effectiveness – of their nearest hardware store in terms of the tools they need to send.  I have a feeling Craftsman and DeWalt stock will get a boost when the first pictures of Optimus workers wielding their power tools on Mars hits twitter.

So stay tuned as Optimus is unveiled later this year because this little robot may very well be the key to mankind’s first base on another planet.