SpaceX and Lower Launch Costs Means We Will Be Getting A Rotating Space Station!
It goes without saying that it costs a lot to put something into orbit. A recent post of mine on putting a hotel into space outlines those costs.
In the days before SpaceX it cost about something like $5,000 per lb or more to get into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
With the the recent success of the Falcon Heavy, it looks like that cost has come down to about $650 per lb. There is talk about getting that down to $100 per lb.
The International Space Station (ISS)
The ISS has a mass of about 925,000 lbs and it was launched using pre-SpaceX vehicles. This means that to just get it into LEO the cost was at least 5 billion dollars (it was very likely much more than that).
Since it cost so much that meant that the design engineers had to made it as light as possible. That also means it is structurally weak (relatively speaking) and that it cannot stand any additional forces such as those you would get from rotation.
A Rotating Space Station
That's okay if the launch costs come down to the level that Elon Musk is predicting ($100/lb). We can finally afford it.
A rotating space station will mean elimination of many of the negative health effects of being weightless such as bone density loss, muscle atrophy, fluid redistribution ("moon face"), eyesight problems, immune system problems and so on.
A Rotating Mars Transport Ship?
The trip to Mars will be a long one (4 to 6 months). At the end of the trip the astronauts will then need to be physically at 100% when they land on the Red Planet.
There will be no time for physical recuperation from weightless conditions and they will need to start working on setting up their colony ASAP.
This all means a rotating colony ship. The surface gravity of Mars is about 38% of Earth's so the ship can spin slower to simulate Mars' gravity.
Closing Words
Cheaper launch costs means that humanity will be able to things that were only dreamt of before.
If the promises hold true then I believe that the imagination of people will surprise us in many ways over the next 20 to 30 years. It's a good time to be alive.
Thx for the upvotes everybody.
I think the real question here arises from economics.
Would it be more efficient to work longer hours, save more and get to the moon that way... or should I take a bit of time off work to excersize and lose some weight?
These are the questions that keep me up at night!
The big questions always do.
Interesting read! Love what SpaceX and what they're venturing out into. Future is exciting!
Hi, I found some acronyms/abbreviations in this post. This is how they expand:
ASAP means As Soon As Possible, Mr Bot.