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Eion Musk


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History is made!

 

Eion's boys just successfully re-landed a rocket, this gig of going to Mars is going to get real in my lifetime (Circa 30 yrs left).

 

In case the duller members of the species didn't catch that, History is made!

 

From the Wait but Why guy:

 

On December 21, SpaceX did something historic—they launched 11 satellites into orbit and then brought the rocket back down to Earth and landed it vertically. It's a game-changing breakthrough in the aerospace industry. If you missed it, you can watch the entire thing here on the webcast, which includes me as the freaked-out outsider co-host. Launch happens at about 23:00 and the excitement with the landing starts at about 31:00.

 

Worth watching the bit from 31:00

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As you know, it was only the command module, that made it back from the moon, the other components were discarded.

 

The key with this, is that the rocket's fuel stage managed to land and ergo, can be reused. This will bring the cost of Mars travel down to a level that is achievable for organisations other than governments.

 

As has been pointed out, if you had to build another Boeing 747 for every air journey, then air travel would be prohibitive to us mere mortals.

 

Cheaper rockets mean that the colonisation of Mars is now almost a given. Not just making it cheaper to launch satellites.

 

The second post in this thread http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/63338-eion-musk/ and here for easy reference : how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars, lays it all out in convincing form, that has me a believer.

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<<

The key with this, is that the rocket's fuel stage managed to land and ergo, can be reused. This will bring the cost of Mars travel down to a level >>

 

Why?

 

Good PR, but fundermentaly it companies like those i work for that benefit,

 

No company will colonize Mars, the cost is insane, rewards far too limited.

 

Now if you said for mining astroid belt, "IF" there was reason too, possibly a company in 50 too 100 years may venture that far.

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<<As you know, it was only the command module, that made it back from the moon, the other components were discarded.>>

 

No it was a rocket being used.

 

And Falcon disvarded the other components as well, ie the satellites and other parts.

 

It's good PR

 

Private companies will be involved in reaching mars, but as part of a government project.

 

 

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? Why is that fundamental to Mars travel?

 

The lunar lander was also a rocket that blasted off, many rockets have landed,

 

This is only relevant to the Satellite industry as it brings down cost of launch.

 

FYI we use Falcon for launches

No, it brings down the cost of launch for ANYTHING.

 

Go out to Swampypoom sometime. Park where you can see the ramp. Look at all the airplanes. Think about how much air travel would cost if each of those airplanes could only be used ONCE, for a one-way trip. That's how expendable boosters, up to and including Saturn V, work.

 

Now think about how much air travel would cost if, after EACH flight, each airplane had to be disassembled all the way down to the individual component level, right down to nuts and bolts, and everything overhauled completely. That's how the Shuttle worked.

 

Now, consider: What Musk did was recover the FIRST stage, INTACT, *READY* *TO* *BE* *REFUELED*, *STACKED*, *AND* *FLOWN* *AGAIN*. That's the first step in REALLY reusing a spacecraft, in getting it to the point that you can reuse it like an AIRPLANE. Refuel, walk around, kick the tires, change out the crew, pump out the toilet holding tanks, load the in-flight meals, load the passengers and cargo, and FLY.

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Well if they have to assemble a big rocket out in space, one big enough to go to Mars, and back, it's going to need a lot of kit being moved from Earth to space first. That means a lot of launches and this is where the reuse-ability works. Building something on Earth that's big enough to do the job of going there and back may well not be feasible, you need to use a lot of energy just getting it into space. Once in space you can build something bit by bit until its ready to go. Reusable launchers are key in making this cost efficient to the point of being "almost" sensible.

 

ISS would never have launched as a fully built item. No rocket big enough.

 

But you're right about the 'Mars is sexy' aspect. Still there is loads of good stuff that can come from this. SRB's that landed in the ocean took quite a rebuild job for reuse, hardly worth it. Making it cheaper to throw shit in space makes everything that gets done in space cheaper. Bigger telescopes, bigger probes, bigger satellites and yes spaceships big enough to go to Mars and back.

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