Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is a little wary of Elon Musk’s ability to send humans to Mars, but he does like what he’s seeing from SpaceX overall.

During a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, Redditor patopc1999 asked, “Hi Neil! Just wanted to know your thoughts on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 relaunch and landing, and what do you think it means for the future of space travel?”

Tyson replied that “any demonstration of rocket reusability is a good thing,” and he even asserted that “reusability is arguably the most fundamental feature of affordable expensive things.”

The Redditor also wanted to know if Tyson would ever consider joining a future one-way trip to Mars, which prompted a less optimistic response: “I really like Earth. So any space trip I take, I’m double checking that there’s sufficient funds for me to return.” He candidly added, “Also, I’m not taking that trip until Elon Musk send[s] his mother and brings her back alive. Then I’m good for it.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently made history by successfully launching and landing a used Falcon 9 rocket booster for the first time. The CEO has announced his intent to bring humans back to the Moon, as well, and SpaceX is looking to add hundreds of new employees to its ranks to help Musk make all these projects happen.

Given Musk’s track record for actually coming through on his plans, it could be simply a matter of time before Tyson boards a SpaceX rocket, with or without Musk’s mother riding one first.

source:futurism.com