Musk Says Starship to Depart for Mars at End of 2026

(FILES) The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP)
(FILES) The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP)
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Musk Says Starship to Depart for Mars at End of 2026

(FILES) The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP)
(FILES) The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the Starship Flight 5 test. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP)

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow "as soon as 2029."

"Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely," Musk said on his X social network, according to AFP.

Musk, who is also the Tesla CEO, brought out the company's Optimus robots at an event last year.

He said the dancing robots would one day be able to do menial tasks, as well as offer friendship, and expected them to retail for $20,000 to $30,000.

Starship -- the world's largest and most powerful rocket -- is key to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars.

Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall -- about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty -- Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable.

NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.

But before SpaceX can carry out those missions, it must prove the vehicle is reliable, safe for crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling -- critical for deep space missions.

SpaceX faced a setback this month when its latest test flight of the Starship prototype ended in a fiery explosion, even as the booster was successfully caught in its orbital test.

It was a near replay of the previous attempt.

Minutes after liftoff and booster separation, a live video feed showed the upper stage tumbling uncontrollably before the signal abruptly cut.

Dramatic footage circulating online showed red-hot debris raining down over the Bahamas.

It marked its eighth uncrewed orbital test.



Pupy the Elephant Arrives at Brazil Sanctuary after 30 Years in Argentine Zoo

A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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Pupy the Elephant Arrives at Brazil Sanctuary after 30 Years in Argentine Zoo

A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Pupy the elephant arrived at her new home in a sanctuary in Mato Grosso, Brazil, Friday following a 2,700-kilometer (1,680-mile) overland journey from a zoo converted into an ecological park in Argentina’s capital where she had spent 30 years in conditions criticized by activists.
The Buenos Aires mayor’s office said in a statement that the last elephant living in the Argentine city’s “Ecopark” arrived at her destination in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest “in perfect health.”
The 35-year-old African elephant was transported in a large iron crate with thick bars strapped to a truck, a mission for which she had been trained for several months. The truck was flanked by vans filled with caretakers and veterinarians.
Pupy (pronounced POOH’-pee in Spanish) did not require sedation during the five-day journey to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, the first refuge for elephants in Latin America located in the municipality of Chapadas Dos Guimarães in Mato Gross state, The Associated Press quoted Argentine authorities as saying.
Upon arriving at the sanctuary, her veterinary escorts opened the door for her, but Pupy was reluctant to leave the iron crate. They said they fed her sugarcane and watermelon, her favorite food, and gave her a bath to refresh her.
Pupy will remain in an outdoor shed while she begins to adapt to her new home, without rushing.
“Everything will happen at her own pace,” said the Buenos Aires mayor’s office.
In 2016, Buenos Aires launched the transformation of its century-old, urban zoo in Palermo neighborhood into an ecological park for the preservation of biodiversity and the conservation of native species.
As part of this process, more than 1,000 animals — including lions, tigers, bears and apes — have been relocated to other countries where they enjoy better living conditions. An emblematic case was that of the orangutan Sandra, who now lives at the Great Ape Center in Wauchula, Florida, where she has adapted and has friends of her own species.
Pupy, who arrived at the Palermo zoo in 1993, is the latest animal transferred from the Buenos Aires ecological park.
Already enjoying the Brazil Elephant Sanctuary are five Asian elephants — including Mara, a former circus elephant that also ended up in the Argentine preserve’s enclosure and five years ago made the same highway trip to the refuge, where she now trudges at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) a day.
Pupy will not be reunited with Mara in her new home, “due to the natural differences between the two species,” officials explained. “The sanctuary is designed to keep the groups separate, respecting their biological and behavioral needs.”
The Buenos Aires “Ecopark” will continue to house animals that, due to age or logistical impossibility, cannot be transferred to another habitat.