Musk Just Revealed the details of plans to build Mars Base. China's ambition to beat SpaceX on Mars

[hridge2020]

Source

 

[Richard V.]

Source

Thank you Henry for the source info. The SpaceX plan can be seen here: Microsoft Word - SpaceX-MoonMarsStarship_Decadal_v9.docx (surveygizmoresponseuploads.s3.amazonaws.com)
More about the plan is here: SpaceX details plan to build Mars Base Alpha with reusable Starship rockets (teslarati.com)

A very interesting contributor to the existing SpaceX plan is found at the following link: Space Mining and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) – Honeybee Robotics. The ISRU principle will be key, I believe, to the Mars missions.

More on ISRU here: Preface: Terrestrial Fieldwork to Support in situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and Robotic Resource Prospecting for Future Activities in Space - NASA/ADS (harvard.edu)
If you want to get into heavy research here it is. I do not get all this, but it is interesting to see the thinking about this ISRU stuff: Integrated-In-Situ-Resource-Utilization-System-Design-and-Logistics-for-Mars-Exploration.pdf (researchgate.net)

 

[rr6013]

Source

Notice: Cybertruck features Safety 3rd center taillight for Martians. SpaceX edition CT‘s get Tesla Mars lift kit.

 

[hridge2020]

Notice: Cybertruck features Safety 3rd center taillight for Martians. SpaceX edition CT‘s get Tesla Mars lift kit.

 

[Newton]

nice! im glad they are doing moon 1st.

 

[Crissa]

nice! im glad they are doing moon 1st.

Moon has a paying client.

There's nothing really new in the video, alas.

-Crissa

 

[Diehard]

I guess this would be the Chinese version of CT if they were sending a truck to Mars:

 

[Newton]

Moon has a paying client.

There's nothing really new in the video, alas.

-Crissa

theres a video? yea nothing new per-say but things r confirmed that we suspected they would be doing

 

[PointHope]

I guess this would be the Chinese version of CT if they were sending a truck to Mars:

Very impressive competition for the CT
Gotta love it!
Take your shoes off, please!

 

[Richard V.]

Moon is toxic burn your face toxic.
but
Mars is 1000x more toxic.
Moon Men
What did the moon men say that the moon smells like?
Burnt Gun Powder.
and
When our ISS guys go out on a spacewalk, they tell us space smells like Burnt Gun Powder.
Why?
Our Sun dumps solar wind. Solar wind is refractory rocks bubbling off the Suns surface. Small little burned crispy ceramics. Ceramic that are ionized and very reactive. Any contact of solar wind rocks with anything the solar wind grains burn little holes in that suit.
Moon Dust
What is worse moon dust is solar wind dust and fine glass shards of glass that sticks to everything that you cannot wash it off.
Moon Dust is not like Earth dust. Moon dust is small shards of glass melted rocks. Impact rocks that are from millions of years of Earth saving meteorite impacts. Impacts that turn rocks into glass and then are pulverize vaporized into dust glass millions of shards of glass.
So
The best way to walk on the moon is in a thin grocery plastic bag or bags. Every time you go outside for a walk on the moon you put on thin grocery plastic bags and before you come back in you melt down these plastic grocery bags.
NASA
Biggest problem with a moon landing is space suits and how to deal with moon dust.

DFW, do you think they did all that in the 60ths?
+ Elon did say that prototypes are easy to make, but production(types) is hell to do.

 

[rr6013]

Very impressive competition for the CT
Gotta love it!
Take your shoes off, please!

TBH, EF-1T in the video clip is a 15/16ths scale to Cybertruck. Less a competitor to Cybertruck more in competition with FORD Maverick pu.

Much more interesting EF-1V, van version, profiles a CTvan silhouette. It is one well thoughtout slide sidedoor, and biparting rear barn doors. Scaled at 15/16ths size to a full truck capacity. That hurts when its only job is cargo.

But its a nice prototype that serves to inform how a full size Cybervan could look. I’d expect full scale would popup the roof line higher to challenge Sprinter volumes. Tesla wrapping glass around the empure waistline with that good of a looking side profile seriously challenges the VW combo van fan loyalty.

Edit: fractional error 15/16ths .vs. ¾

 

[John K]

I guess this would be the Chinese version of CT if they were sending a truck to Mars:

Had to chuckle.
“Better than the CT”

other guy, “WHAT?!”

The van has some interest for me, I am happier with the CT choice over the Edison truck. Reserve final opinion for final specs.

Competition is good.

 

[rr6013]

Thank you Henry for the source info. The SpaceX plan can be seen here: <snip>

<snip>

PLAN B
Plan A - works perfectly. Risk assessment?.

Backup equipment
Plan A talks game in quant terms. Specifics unmentioned.. Give that a dry rehearsal. Duct tape? Cardboard? Filter?

SHTF Plan

Shotgun method
Every two years planets align for 6mo. transit. Shoot a load of Starships. Could there be a load of Evergreen containers in train behind? Starships being reuse tugs could capture and descend to parachute containers to terra firma. Return to orbit w/o landing. Or however Mars permits reuse easier.

Human Factors
No discourse.

 

[Richard V.]

PLAN B
Plan A - works perfectly. Risk assessment?.

Backup equipment
Plan A talks game in quant terms. Specifics unmentioned.. Give that a dry rehearsal. Duct tape? Cardboard? Filter?

SHTF Plan

Shotgun method
Every two years planets align for 6mo. transit. Shoot a load of Starships. Could there be a load of Evergreen containers in train behind? Starships being reuse tugs could capture and descend to parachute containers to terra firma. Return to orbit w/o landing. Or however Mars permits reuse easier.

Human Factors
No discourse.

See this video for more on the two years planet alignment: Mars Close Approach | Mars in our Night Sky – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Can we use this planet schedule to predict the next Mars mission?

 

[Kremmen]

Starships being reuse tugs could capture and descend to parachute containers to terra firma. Return to orbit w/o landing. Or however Mars permits reuse easier.

Just my non-expert take, I’m not an engineer, but I don't think it's really feasible. Once you get to Mars you need to slow down from interplanetary speeds. You can brake propulsively or by aerobraking using the Martian atmosphere. If you are going to brake propulsively then every ton of propellant used is a ton less payload landed, so it pretty much has to be aerobraking. But now you still need to add the weight of doors that can open at high speed in atmosphere, an ejection system, pallets, parachutes, etc.

You’ve got to balance all of that, slow enough that all cargo can be ejected and land safely over at as little ground range as possible, then still have enough propellant left over to get the ship back to Earth.

It might be possible but (just a guess) I think it might restrict you to a much lower landable payload compared to landing normally and refuelling the ship on the surface via Sabatier etc.