Hello, and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. There was absolutely no news last week because nothing happened.Just kidding. Defying all early polling, Donald Trump swept the election and will soon be sworn in for his second term in office. From a space policy perspective, things are already starting to look interesting. Thats mostly due to the prominent role SpaceX CEO Elon Musk played in the run-up to the election, and the role he could play in the next administration.Theres already been some great reporting from The New York Times on their relationship; Ill point to this story, which describes how Musk joined a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and this one, in which sources say that Musk wanted Trump to hire SpaceX employees to top government positions, including at the Department of Defense.If Musk manages to secure even a fraction of the influence that he has talked about in recent weeks like heading a Department of Government Efficiency we could see the head of the biggest space company, the biggest electric vehicle manufacturer, and one of the largest social media platforms gain as-of-yet-unheard of influence.Want to reach out with a tip? Email Aria at aria.techcrunch@gmail.com or send a message on Signal at 512-937-3988. You can also send a note to the TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com.For more secure communications,click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop instructions and links to encrypted messaging apps.Story of the week Senior reporter Rebecca Bellan and I dove into what Trumps presidency might mean for Elon Musk. Bellan covers all things transportation, so she took a close look at the prospects for Tesla, and I threw in my two cents about the implications for space policy. We tried very, very hard not to speculate too much at this point, its too easy to drift into fantasy, and there are too many unknowns but theres still plenty of info to go on.Image Credits:Adam Gray/Bloomberg / Getty ImagesWhat were looking forward to this monthSpeaking of SpaceX, the company is gearing up to launch its sixth integrated flight test of Starship on November 18. Many of the test objectives are the same as the fifth test, which saw the Super Heavy booster return to the launch site for the first time ever, but SpaceX did say it will be testing some hardware and software upgrades.Image Credits:SpaceXThis week in space historyWith Musk having the ear of the next sitting president, Mars is on everyones minds in a new way. Its entirely possible that SpaceX could indeed launch an uncrewed Starship to Mars when the next Earth-Mars transit window opens in 2026. But this week, were looking back at a very small spacecraft that made history as the first human-made object to orbit the red planet: Mariner 9, which entered Mars orbit on November 13, 1971.When the probe arrived, a massive dust storm was obscuring most of the planets features. That calmed down, and Mariner 9 was able to take a number of incredible images over its 10 months orbiting the planet. Much of what it saw completely shocked scientists.olympus mons, the largest shield volcano on mars and earth.Image Credits:NASA