Vatican astronomer: Bezos and Musk's space plans unrealistic

The Pope's new astronomer, Richard Anthony D'Souza, has expressed scepticism about the space plans of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. In an interview with the Italian daily newspaper"La Repubblica" (Tuesday), he said of Bezos' idea of space tourism that it was difficult to imagine that holidays in space could become affordable for the middle class. "I believe there are many other, far more important problems on Earth that deserve our attention," said the Indian Jesuit, who recently became the new director of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo.

He was also sceptical about entrepreneur Musk's idea of using the planet Mars for humanity. He considers "terraforming", i.e. the targeted modification of another planet by humans, to be a "distant and unrealistic dream", said the scientist.

On the other hand, the probability of finding life on another planet is not insignificant given the large number of more than 2,000 exoplanets currently known within our galaxy, explained the astronomer. "The question is whether we can detect such extraterrestrial life," said D'Souza. "Given these scientific findings, I think it is pointless at this stage to ask whether these hypothetical aliens believe in God or not."

Leo XIV interested in science

The director of the Vatican Observatory apparently has high hopes for Pope Leo XIV, himself a trained mathematician. Leo has shown great interest in his work in the few months he has been in office, said D'Souza. "It seems to me that he is interested in how the results of science can be used to make us admire God's creation and help everyone."

Leo visited the Vatican Observatory in July to mark the anniversary of the moon landing, later spoke on the phone with astronaut Buzz Aldrin and took an interest in the actions of Paul VI, who spoke to the astronauts from the observatory during the moon landing and later met them at the Vatican in October 1969, he said.

"Pope Leo XIV is deeply aware of how the journey to the moon inspired an entire generation and made possible many advances that have improved people's lives," said the astronomer. The Pope is also aware of the renewed interest in the moon as a possible launch pad for manned space missions to distant planets, emphasised D'Souza. (KNA)