Tag: Mars transport system

While talking with participants in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) chat Elon Musk said that by the end of this year, his company will unveil a detailed transport system designed to take humans to Mars.   He made the statement on the day the scheduled launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9, which will attempt a daring landing of its 14-story first stage rocket on a floating launch pad after delivering supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), was scrapped due to technical problems. The Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral has been rescheduled for this Friday, January 9. Musk admitted during the talk that he does not know the chances of the Falcon 9 successfully executing the landing. He noted a spacecraft carrying people to Mars would require “100 metric tons of useful payload” and acknowledged having learned a lot from his company’s Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon vehicle, which brings supplies to the ISS. Such a large payload will require a large spacecraft and booster system, he added. His talk covered a variety of topics, including the design of spacesuits for astronauts to wear on the Martian surface. SpaceX plans to release a spacesuit design for Mars astronauts by the end of this year, noting work is already in progress toward this goal. “We are putting a lot of effort into design aesthetics, not just utility,” said Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla Motors. “It needs to both look like a 21st century spacesuit and work well.” Achieving both the practical and aesthetic objectives is a difficult task, he acknowledged. When asked whether SpaceX has plans to construct space elevators and/or “air-breathing rockets” that could enable super-fast travel, Musk said he prefers to stick with “pure rockets.” The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to develop “air-breathing rockets.” The SpaceX CEO also said he enjoys the Kerbal Space Program (KSP) video game, which allows players to simulate a space program, a move that prompted KSP to add his endorsement to its website.

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