Hi Mr. Musk, how about "Interplanetary Colonial Transporter" ?Quote from: Elon MuskTurns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name…
Turns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name…
@kzmakino sounds about right
Is he talking about the asteroid belt or something, I can't see the landing vehicle with it's normal atmospheric EDL profile being appropriate on any other planetary body in the solar system other then Venus. >
Is he talking about the asteroid belt or something, I can't see the landing vehicle with it's normal atmospheric EDL profile being appropriate on any other planetary body in the solar system other then Venus. While it could retro-propulsive land on an airless body it would be complete overkill to do that on an asteroid with a vehicle with so much thrust and when something like RCS would be able to land and take off. If he thinks the system will be this flexible it strongly suggests an in space transit vehicle is being used.From what I can find the Delta V to get to main belt asteroids is around 4.5 km/s burn at LEO and another 4.5 km/s to direct land because their is no significant gravity well or anything to brake against.
Kazunori Makino 12 minutes agohttps://twitter.com/kzmakino/status/776954933820002305Quote from: @kzmakinoHi Mr. Musk, how about "Interplanetary Colonial Transporter" ?Quote from: Elon MuskTurns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name… https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/776956202936782850Quote from: Elon Musk@kzmakino sounds about right
Quote from: Robotbeat on 09/17/2016 01:37 amKazunori Makino 12 minutes agohttps://twitter.com/kzmakino/status/776954933820002305Quote from: @kzmakinoHi Mr. Musk, how about "Interplanetary Colonial Transporter" ?Quote from: Elon MuskTurns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name… https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/776956202936782850Quote from: Elon Musk@kzmakino sounds about rightICT - Columbia Would be very nice. Back on topic, going doesn't mean it'll be able to land. They are going to be bound to the capacity of manufacturing methane for fueling their ship. I'm a bit skeptical that MCT is going to go anywhere is not Mars or even the Moon. But hey, amazing we are even having this conversation.
Enterprise, Defiant, Voyager, Discovery (new CBS show)....or how about Serenity?
Quote from: Impaler on 09/17/2016 05:44 amIs he talking about the asteroid belt or something, I can't see the landing vehicle with it's normal atmospheric EDL profile being appropriate on any other planetary body in the solar system other then Venus. While it could retro-propulsive land on an airless body it would be complete overkill to do that on an asteroid with a vehicle with so much thrust and when something like RCS would be able to land and take off. If he thinks the system will be this flexible it strongly suggests an in space transit vehicle is being used.From what I can find the Delta V to get to main belt asteroids is around 4.5 km/s burn at LEO and another 4.5 km/s to direct land because their is no significant gravity well or anything to brake against.Maybe for Asteroid missions long duration SEP burns as orbital matching delta-V.Ohh, don't forget the Moon. SpaceX might not have any cis-Lunar plans. Doesn't mean they will not provide transportation services to that region if someone is willing to pay.
I think your delta V budget is way too high.Just read a paper on NTP for a Jupiter flyby that used a Zubrin # of 4.19 Km/sec (edited) to get to Jupiter in 4.1 years. My MCT model has ~6.5 Km/sec delta V capability fully fueled so I think most asteroids close to the ecliptic, and Saturn's moon Titan with aerobraking are in the cards. Drop the 100 tonnes cargo to 50 tonnes or whatever and pick up almost another Km/sec. Then again add in an onboard nuclear electric power source that weighs, what 25 tonnes net after dropping the solar panel array. Whatever, back of the spreadsheet calcs say that a vehicle with MCT capability to Mars surface can get most anywhere, especially when you drop the cargo # a bit.EDIT: I agree with your implication in bold, just not strongly, perhaps
"Interplanetary Transport System" is kind of bland, but descriptive. "Mars Colonial Transport" had a definite Bladerunner vibe to me, while this seems more like a municipal rapid transit system.