SpaceX's Mars Colony Plan: How Elon Musk Plans to Build a Million-Person Martian City
From Space.com
Elon Musk has put his Mars-colonization vision to paper, and you can read it for free.https://www.space.com/37200-read-elon-musk-spacex-mars-colony-plan.htmlSpaceX's billionaire founder and CEO just published the plan, which he unveiled at a conference in Mexico in September 2016, in the journal New Space. Musk's commentary, titled "Making Humanity a Multi-Planetary Species," is available for free on New Space's website through July 5.
"In my view, publishing this paper provides not only an opportunity for the spacefaring community to read the SpaceX vision in print with all the charts in context, but also serves as a valuable archival reference for future studies and planning," New Space editor-in-chief (and former NASA "Mars czar") Scott Hubbard wrote in a statement. [SpaceX's Interplanetary Transport for Mars in Images]
Musk's Mars vision centers on a reusable rocket-and-spaceship combo that he's dubbed the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). Both the booster and the spaceship will be powered by SpaceX's Raptor engine, still in development, which Musk said will be about three times stronger than the Merlin engines that power the company's Falcon 9 rocket.
The booster, with its 42 Raptors, will be the most powerful rocket in history, by far. It will be capable of launching 300 metric tons (330 tons) to low Earth orbit (LEO), or 550 metric tons (600 tons) in an expendable variant, Musk said. For comparison, NASA's famous Saturn V moon rocket, the current record holder, could loft "just" 135 metric tons (150 tons).
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why not moon bases first? it's closer and easier to communicate with - am i missing something? i admit that since the challenger debacle i really haven't been following the space race in detail. i'd think they'd want to develop the techniques and protocols/prototypes there first as 'proof-of-concept'
I've always wondered the same thing. Wouldn't a moon base better prepare us?
my thought exactly! considering all the advances we could/would make from moon based industries, research and colonization. have you read john varley's early novels/short stories? especially the collection of short stories 'the Ophiuchi Hotline'
No but I love Arthur C Clarke's vision of our space colonization future.
Did you read Clarke's story wherein he proposes 'space elevator' made of a cable of carbon filament fiber strands manufactured in a geostationary platform? Very visionary and forward thinking
If that was in the Rama or 2001 etc series then yes!
I want to say the first Rama book but it's been such a long time since I read it and all my books are in storage - le sigh 😉
Amen dude. This whole Mars shit smells fishy in the context of the moon, like you said. I'm not trying to put the tinfoil hat on too tight, but there is some stench here, no?
I hope he accepts cryptocurrency as the mode of payment ;)
If i recalled correctly his rocket blewup 5 times before he actually succeeded! The man is something else. "I will never give up, unless I am dead or incapcitated"- Elon musk
Good read!
Yes that would be great
jeje tambien espero que acepten estas criptomonedas en Marte.
Friend, excellent post
excellent article
that will be great bro
is mars flat too?
not sure I'll be one of the first to go, but a vacation to mars might be nice :)