SpaceX post is up.http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.html
Quote from: Bargemanos on 08/17/2015 09:11 amSpaceX post is up.http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.htmlIn a word: fantastic.
... the guy is an administrator, the guy making things happen. The most successful in history was a lawyer (Mr. Webb). Musk is owner of a company that makes a booster. He's talking about mars and what not, but the numbers are all hidden and he is interested in doing military work, based on actions to date.... but the fellow everyone is talking about is more a banker than anything else. Historically, that's what he was up to. And is still, here and there.
That is what bothers me, that a single person is in control. Anything goes wrong with the guy... nix a decade and a billion plus. One program after another. No landing on the moon.He could demand the final straw of overtime, have a stroke, get hit by a bus, or whatever. Start over. The other companies are all starting over. The SI valley model is not good.
Quite long and comprehensive. It has several bits that seem to give direct confirmation from Musk on some occasionally-debated points, like solar vs nuclear power on Mars. "Nuclear is a possibility, but Musk thinks it値l be mostly solar. Early on, panels will need to be brought from Earth, and Musk has the idea to make them flexible and inflatable so they can be rolled up (like one of those upsetting party blowers)."This has come up a silly number of times in the MCT thread.
the Mars Colonial Transporter will consist of two pieces葉he giant, powerful first stage, and the second stage, which will also be the spacecraft. The first stage will launch a spacecraft into orbit, then come back down (landing propulsively), refuel, undergo a bit of maintenance, and head back up with another spacecraft. This will go on for a while in the weeks leading up to the point where Earth and Mars are next to each other in orbit. Then SpaceX will send up a tanker of some kind to refuel the orbiting spacecraft (which also functions as the second stage rocket, so it値l have spent a lot of its fuel getting itself into orbit).
Quote from: Owlon on 08/17/2015 01:22 pmQuite long and comprehensive. It has several bits that seem to give direct confirmation from Musk on some occasionally-debated points, like solar vs nuclear power on Mars. "Nuclear is a possibility, but Musk thinks it値l be mostly solar. Early on, panels will need to be brought from Earth, and Musk has the idea to make them flexible and inflatable so they can be rolled up (like one of those upsetting party blowers)."This has come up a silly number of times in the MCT thread.It's a long and fluffy piece, very useful for the general public, not so much for the average reader here.As for solar/nuclear power and how - if I had one question I can have Musk answer, that would be it. What is the power architecture he has in mind. --Oh - and why was this post being delayed and put on hold till today?
Quote from: meekGee on 08/17/2015 02:04 pmQuote from: Owlon on 08/17/2015 01:22 pmQuite long and comprehensive. It has several bits that seem to give direct confirmation from Musk on some occasionally-debated points, like solar vs nuclear power on Mars. "Nuclear is a possibility, but Musk thinks it値l be mostly solar. Early on, panels will need to be brought from Earth, and Musk has the idea to make them flexible and inflatable so they can be rolled up (like one of those upsetting party blowers)."This has come up a silly number of times in the MCT thread.It's a long and fluffy piece, very useful for the general public, not so much for the average reader here.As for solar/nuclear power and how - if I had one question I can have Musk answer, that would be it. What is the power architecture he has in mind. --Oh - and why was this post being delayed and put on hold till today?What's the "average reader" here?I'm calling you out on this not to pick on you, of course, but to emphasize what this piece is trying to point out.Most NSFers are "higher than average" in space technology awareness. There's the space-enthusiast types like me that can tell you the names and faces of the first three astronaut groups, that cringe at technical and historical goofs in space docudramas or science fiction, and might even be able to highlight every manned American spaceflight from Mercury to Apollo (or many highlights of STS, depending on your age). I'd guess 75% of us are this, just on a bell curve of probability.Then there are the space-industry folks that's worked directly or indirectly with the stuff, who calls out we enthusiasts when we get the basics wrong. We know who these people are and love that they're here. That's maybe another 10-15%, and you might be one of them, doing what you should do for us with lesser knowledge.The last 10% may be folks like GaryNASA, SpaceX_MS and more who lurk and work actively in the current programs and give us jewels of thought or information that prove the collective NSF right or wrong.This piece is certainly for the 75%, sure. But the piece does what only the Chris's and other NSF writers can do, to a point, on their news pieces, and that's glean what's legitimate news and fact from forum data into a digestible, accurate summation of a Big Picture. It's advantage comes from being less than space-limited as this was a monster of an article to compile, fact check and release. And I know it's still not quite perfect and can never be. But it really paints what Musk is doing well and is worth spreading about, if not here.
Quote from: Bargemanos on 08/17/2015 09:11 amSpaceX post is up.http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.htmlNone of those "extinction events" will make Earth less habitable than Mars.If you want to prevent "mass extinction" from happening, the money is better spent on asteroid detection/deflection, prediction/control of volcanic eruptions and disease prevention/control.Just stating the obvious, hopefully not spoiling the party.
An excellent story, very well written. It confirms that the MCT will be a two stage rocket, and that there will be 2 kinds of second stages, the spacecraft that goes to Mars and the tanker.Quotethe Mars Colonial Transporter will consist of two pieces葉he giant, powerful first stage, and the second stage, which will also be the spacecraft. The first stage will launch a spacecraft into orbit, then come back down (landing propulsively), refuel, undergo a bit of maintenance, and head back up with another spacecraft. This will go on for a while in the weeks leading up to the point where Earth and Mars are next to each other in orbit. Then SpaceX will send up a tanker of some kind to refuel the orbiting spacecraft (which also functions as the second stage rocket, so it値l have spent a lot of its fuel getting itself into orbit).
No one痴 exactly sure how the transportation will work, but it値l likely be something like this: the Mars Colonial Transporter will consist of two pieces葉he giant, powerful first stage, and the second stage, which will also be the spacecraft.
Quote from: cartman on 08/17/2015 03:27 pmAn excellent story, very well written. It confirms that the MCT will be a two stage rocket, and that there will be 2 kinds of second stages, the spacecraft that goes to Mars and the tanker.Quotethe Mars Colonial Transporter will consist of two pieces葉he giant, powerful first stage, and the second stage, which will also be the spacecraft. The first stage will launch a spacecraft into orbit, then come back down (landing propulsively), refuel, undergo a bit of maintenance, and head back up with another spacecraft. This will go on for a while in the weeks leading up to the point where Earth and Mars are next to each other in orbit. Then SpaceX will send up a tanker of some kind to refuel the orbiting spacecraft (which also functions as the second stage rocket, so it値l have spent a lot of its fuel getting itself into orbit).Actually, I don't think it confirms that. It seems to me the author is speculating the same way we do here. You left out the key first sentence of the paragraph:QuoteNo one痴 exactly sure how the transportation will work, but it値l likely be something like this: the Mars Colonial Transporter will consist of two pieces葉he giant, powerful first stage, and the second stage, which will also be the spacecraft.
Quote from: Oli on 08/17/2015 04:38 pmQuote from: Bargemanos on 08/17/2015 09:11 amSpaceX post is up.http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.htmlNone of those "extinction events" will make Earth less habitable than Mars.If you want to prevent "mass extinction" from happening, the money is better spent on asteroid detection/deflection, prediction/control of volcanic eruptions and disease prevention/control.Just stating the obvious, hopefully not spoiling the party.Oli - the argument has never been that.It's that a collapsing society loses much more than the actual damage caused by whatever it was that started the collapse (war, crop failure, asteroid hit...) - it needs a second healthy society nearby to help it back on its feet.This only became true once society became a single entity. A world full only of animals, though biologically similar to humans, will bounce back (and has bounced back) from many events that would cause us to go back to the dark ages.
Quote from: meekGee on 08/17/2015 04:50 pmQuote from: Oli on 08/17/2015 04:38 pmQuote from: Bargemanos on 08/17/2015 09:11 amSpaceX post is up.http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.htmlNone of those "extinction events" will make Earth less habitable than Mars.If you want to prevent "mass extinction" from happening, the money is better spent on asteroid detection/deflection, prediction/control of volcanic eruptions and disease prevention/control.Just stating the obvious, hopefully not spoiling the party.Oli - the argument has never been that.It's that a collapsing society loses much more than the actual damage caused by whatever it was that started the collapse (war, crop failure, asteroid hit...) - it needs a second healthy society nearby to help it back on its feet.This only became true once society became a single entity. A world full only of animals, though biologically similar to humans, will bounce back (and has bounced back) from many events that would cause us to go back to the dark ages.The idea that advanced societies would collapse as a result of such an event is nonsense propagated by popular culture because it makes for better entertainment. Even if there's the danger of collapse, its an argument for better civil defense and not for putting "helpers" millions of miles away on some planet where they can hardly survive on their own.