Svmuu reported that F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun explained on X platform the reasons for his decision to take the Starship for its first crewed Mars flyby. He stated that with the debut of Starship V3, humanity is one step closer to becoming a "multi-planetary species." During Fram2 training, aside from Dragon spacecraft-related content, one of the most discussed topics among the team was "how to reliably perform a landing and return on Phobos."
Although three months ago Musk announced that SpaceX would shift its focus more toward the Moon and believes that with the development of AI data centers, space commercialization might eventually find a viable path, Wang stressed that the goal should be Mars, not the Moon. He is not currently confident that humanity will truly land on Mars within this generation's lifetime, so he hopes to personally drive this process forward.
Wang Chun added that by purchasing a Mars flyby mission, he aims to give SpaceX a reason to "not forget Mars," and emphasized that "the Mars plan should not be postponed for the next generation." Although this mission will not attempt to land on Phobos, all great explorations begin with the first step. "I hope this mission can prove to the public that Mars is not just a point of light in a telescope, but a real world that humans can reach, visit, and return from safely."