{"id":41772,"date":"2026-02-13T03:40:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/?post_type=web-story&#038;p=41772"},"modified":"2026-02-13T03:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:40:25","slug":"why-they-abruptly-cancelled-mars-and-pivoted-to-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"web-story","link":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/web-stories\/why-they-abruptly-cancelled-mars-and-pivoted-to-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why They Abruptly Cancelled Mars and Pivoted to the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><html amp=\"\" lang=\"en\"><head><meta charSet=\"utf-8\"\/><meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,minimum-scale=1,initial-scale=1\"\/><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ampproject.org\/v0.js\"><\/script><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ampproject.org\/v0\/amp-story-1.0.js\" custom-element=\"amp-story\"><\/script><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ampproject.org\/v0\/amp-video-0.1.js\" custom-element=\"amp-video\"><\/script><link href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Why-They-Abruptly-Cancelled-Mars-and-Pivoted-to-the-Moon.mp4\" rel=\"preload\" as=\"video\"\/>\n<style amp-boilerplate=\"\">body{-webkit-animation:-amp-start 8s steps(1,end) 0s 1 normal both;-moz-animation:-amp-start 8s steps(1,end) 0s 1 normal both;-ms-animation:-amp-start 8s steps(1,end) 0s 1 normal both;animation:-amp-start 8s steps(1,end) 0s 1 normal both}@-webkit-keyframes -amp-start{from{visibility:hidden}to{visibility:visible}}@-moz-keyframes -amp-start{from{visibility:hidden}to{visibility:visible}}@-ms-keyframes -amp-start{from{visibility:hidden}to{visibility:visible}}@-o-keyframes -amp-start{from{visibility:hidden}to{visibility:visible}}@keyframes -amp-start{from{visibility:hidden}to{visibility:visible}}<\/style>\n<p><noscript><\/p>\n<style amp-boilerplate=\"\">body{-webkit-animation:none;-moz-animation:none;-ms-animation:none;animation:none}<\/style>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<style amp-custom=\"\">\n              h1, h2, h3 { font-weight: normal; }<\/p>\n<p>              amp-story-page {\n                background-color: #131516;\n              }<\/p>\n<p>              amp-story-grid-layer {\n                overflow: visible;\n              }<\/p>\n<p>              @media (max-aspect-ratio: 9 \/ 16)  {\n                @media (min-aspect-ratio: 320 \/ 678) {\n                  amp-story-grid-layer.grid-layer {\n                    margin-top: calc((100% \/ 0.5625 - 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But have you noticed the silence lately? Suddenly, every major player, from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to NASA and China, is scrambling back to the Moon. They tell us it\u2019s just &quot;practice&quot; for Mars, but I don\u2019t buy it.\" alt=\"We were all hyped for the Red Planet\u2014colonies, terraforming, the whole sci-fi future. But have you noticed the silence lately? Suddenly, every major player, from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to NASA and China, is scrambling back to the Moon. They tell us it\u2019s just &quot;practice&quot; for Mars, but I don\u2019t buy it.\" id=\"el-d3470da1-cf32-431a-8636-6c66a5a0d21f-media\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Why-They-Abruptly-Cancelled-Mars-and-Pivoted-to-the-Moon.mp4\"\/><\/amp-video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/amp-story-grid-layer><amp-story-grid-layer template=\"vertical\" aspect-ratio=\"412:618\" class=\"grid-layer\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"page-fullbleed-area\">\n<div class=\"page-safe-area\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/amp-story-grid-layer><amp-story-page-outlink layout=\"nodisplay\" cta-image=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/moon-hotels.png\"><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/why-the-red-planet-is-on-pause\/\" rel=\"\">Learn more<\/a><\/amp-story-page-outlink><\/amp-story-page><\/amp-story><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We were all hyped for the Red Planet\u2014colonies, terraforming, the whole sci-fi future. 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Suddenly, every major player, from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to NASA and C<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41776,"template":"","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAown96uCw:productID":"","web_stories_publisher_logo":8927,"web_stories_poster":[],"web_stories_products":[],"footnotes":""},"web_story_category":[306],"web_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-41772","web-story","type-web-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"amp_enabled":false,"story_data":{"version":47,"pages":[{"elements":[{"opacity":100,"flip":{"vertical":false,"horizontal":false},"rotationAngle":0,"lockAspectRatio":true,"backgroundColor":{"color":{"r":196,"g":196,"b":196}},"x":48,"y":0,"width":330,"height":586,"mask":{"type":"rectangle"},"isBackground":true,"type":"video","id":"d3470da1-cf32-431a-8636-6c66a5a0d21f","scale":100,"focalX":50,"focalY":50,"resource":{"type":"video","mimeType":"video\/mp4","width":675,"height":1200,"sizes":[],"isPlaceholder":false,"isExternal":false,"needsProxy":false,"baseColor":"#222228","blurHash":"U2By]a9Z8{^*4m_2%N^*00%2.8D*A2EMR40L","creationDate":"2026-02-12T05:26:56","src":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Why-They-Abruptly-Cancelled-Mars-and-Pivoted-to-the-Moon.mp4","id":41738,"alt":"","local":false,"poster":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Why-They-Abruptly-Cancelled-Mars-and-Pivoted-to-the-Moon-poster.jpeg","posterId":41773,"isOptimized":false,"length":53,"lengthFormatted":"0:53","isMuted":false,"trimData":{"original":0},"provider":"local"},"alt":"We were all hyped for the Red Planet\u2014colonies, terraforming, the whole sci-fi future. 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