SpaceX test-fires 'Raptor' rocket that will take humans to Mars

[Brian in Mesa]

SpaceX test-fires 'Raptor' rocket that will take humans to Mars

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...ket-that-will-take-humans-to-mars/ar-BBwD0zw?

SpaceX has done its first test of the Raptor rocket engine that will take humans to Mars as early as 2024, Elon Musk said in a series of tweets. It was fired at the company's McGregor, Texas facility on a stand that can handle the extreme thrust. Pointing out the "mach diamonds" from the test, Musk said the "production Raptor goal is a specific impulse of 382 seconds and thrust of 3 MN [680,000 pounds]," more than three times that of the current Falcon 9.

With nine of the methane-fueled motors, the Red Dragon rocket will be far more powerful than any current space craft. It'll eventually lift the Mars Colonial Transporter, loaded with 100 tons of cargo, toward the red planet. The company plans to launch an unmanned craft to Mars by 2018 and get humans there by 2024.

Elon Musk will give a speech tomorrow at the International Astronautical Conference in Mexico, titled "Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species." During the talk, he is expected to unveil the design of the Mars Colonial Transporter and overall plan for colonizing the red planet.

 

[puckhead]

 

[Southpaw]

"At a conference yesterday, Elon Musk outlined his company SpaceX's plan to send humans to Mars. The vehicle is called the Interplanetary Transport System and it is capable of carrying 100 tons of cargo (people and supplies). Musk added that this rocket ship could take people to Mars in just 80 days. But he also reminded that the first batch of people who are brave enough to go to Mars should be well aware that they are almost certainly going to die. The Verge adds:During the Q&A session that followed, the question inevitably came up: what sort of person does Musk think will volunteer to get strapped to that big rocket and fired toward the Red Planet? "Who should these people be, carrying the light of humanity to Mars for all of us?" an audience member asked. "I think the first journeys to Mars will be really very dangerous," answered Musk. "The risk of fatality will be high. There's just no way around it." The journey itself would take around 80 days, according to the plan and ideas that Musk put forward. "Are you prepared to die? If that's okay, then you're a candidate for going," he added. But Musk didn't want to get stuck talking about the risks and immense danger. "This is less about who goes there first... the thing that really matters is making a self-sustaining civilization on Mars as fast as possible. This is different than Apollo. This is really about minimizing existential risk and having a tremendous sense of adventure," he said."

https://science.slashdot.org/story/...utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
https://science.slashdot.org/story/...utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Sign me up.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/fo...-rocket-that-will-take-humans-to-mars.240616/

 

[Southpaw]

Point is ..... who would go? Any volunteers knowing the risk.

 

[puckhead]

I would seriously consider it. Not sure about the Mrs.

 

[Reign Blood]

I would seriously consider it. Not sure about the Mrs.

At least we could drink vodka and play music and discuss the old d&d books with the githyankees. Also not stop and pee every 50 miles and have to buy fountain drinks and listen to Carrie Underwood on cd.

 

[puckhead]

At least we could drink vodka and play music and discuss the old d&d books with the githyankees. Also not stop and pee every 50 miles and have to buy fountain drinks and listen to Carrie Underwood on cd.

LOL! I married pretty well and most of that isn't an issue. That every 50 mile thing though...

 

[Reign Blood]

LOL! I married pretty well and most of that isn't an issue. That every 50 mile thing though...

Lol yes I married very well too I'm a lucky dude as well. Dispute hearing "Jesus take the wheel" a million times.

 

[bankybruce]

Wow, 80 days!

 

[Southpaw]

*

 

[Shaggy]

Why don't they land on the moon first. Live on the moon for a few years, then take off from the moon which has 0 gravity and will take less fuel/time to get to Mars. Why haven't we gone back to the moon yet is beyond me?

 

[Southpaw]

Why don't they land on the moon first. Live on the moon for a few years, then take off from the moon which has 0 gravity and will take less fuel/time to get to Mars. Why haven't we gone back to the moon yet is beyond me?

Maybe we have.