"this will enable us to increase ๐our production rate significantly as we build toward our long-term goal of producing one Ship per day" https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-one-a-day-starfactory
#SpaceX aims to speed up ๐ its development timeline even further. โWe have Ships and #SuperHeavy boosters built and either ready to launch or in testing for the next several flights with more coming off of the production line as SpaceXโs #Starfactory ๐ญ continues to grow. The latest phase โฑ๏ธ of the factory currently under construction will come online this summer, giving us several 100,000 more square feet of space.โ Starship should launch nine times this year. https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/spacex-plans-to-produce-rocket-every-day
#SyntrichiaCaninervis is able to withstand drought conditions, but tests by researchers at the #Chinese ๐จ๐ณ Academy of Sciences revealed that it can also tolerate temperatures as low as -196ยฐC โ๏ธ and similar levels of gamma radiation โข๏ธ to that found on the #Martian surface. "A promising candidate pioneer plant ๐ฑ for colonising #extraterrestrial environments" https://www.independent.co.uk/space/mars-moss-survive-human-colony-b2571878.html
Redirecting water-rich comets and #asteroids โ๏ธ to crash into #Mars ๐ด would release gases from below the planetโs surface into the atmosphere while also releasing the water ๐ฆ found in the #comets https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/is-it-possible-to-make-mars-like-earth/
#SpaceX will try to perform a catch ๐ฆพ of Booster 12 during Flight 5 https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/06/starship-flight-4-milestones-flight-5/
Possible settlement locations on #Mars ๐ด https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars#Possible_settlement_locations
Map ๐บ๏ธ https://marble.kde.org/install.php
Picture : Mars before and after #DustStorm https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mars_Before_and_After_Dust_Storm_-_PIA22487.gif
If the uncrewed test missions succeed, #crewed ๐จโ๐ ๐ฉโ๐ missions are expected in ๐ 2028 https://www.cnet.com/science/space/spacex-plans-5-missions-to-mars-by-2026-elon-musk-says/
Some useful payload for greenhouses ๐ฑ on #Mars ๐ด ? ๐ค https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVcQp-WQbF0
"If we can avoid disaster for the next two centuries, our species should be safe, as we spread into #space ๐ ." #StephenHawking https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/aug/09/stephen-hawking-human-race-colonise-space
"The clear necessity of expanding humanity's horizons would cause ... space ๐ settlements to be built." #IsaacAsimov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
He really gets to the point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9tDERFjOMw
"#Mars ๐ด serves as a simplified laboratory for testing #climate models and scenarios, without oceans and biology, that we can then use to better understand ๐ค๐ญ Earth systems." #Mars can tilt more than Earth, causing the Red Planet's poles to receive more direct sunlight than its midlatitudes, making for longer summer days with higher temperatures https://www.space.com/33001-mars-ice-age-ending-now.html
The seasonal rise and fall of #methane on #Mars ๐ด is a sign that there is much more to learn about our neighboring planet and that it's holding many secrets beneath its surface https://www.space.com/what-is-behind-martian-methane-mystery
Only hydrated #minerals as a water source cover the needs to produce propellants and life support #water๐ง. Extraction from #regolith requires autonomous excavation, transport, processing of regolith and water treatment that present significant challenges. #Atmospheric water harvesting suffers from the extremely low residence time of air in the system. Compression is power-intensive ๐ชซ but can be competitive if the waste heat from the fission reactors is accessible https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117725012864?via%3Dihub#s0185
Initially expected to launch in 2022, the #ExoMars mission is currently scheduled for launch in ๐ 2028. One of the most important elements of the mission is the system designed to slow the descent module from 21,000โฏkm/h to a soft landing ๐ช on the surface of #Mars. https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-recertifies-exomars-parachutes-after-years-in-storage
Why human ๐งโ๐ missions to #Mars ๐ด (8:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzhSmnGcSkE
Dr. Levine spent 41 years at #NASA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_S._Levine
After decades where human spaceflight missions have been reserved to low Earth orbit, recent years have seen mission proposals and even implemented plans, e.g. with the mission Artemis I, for returning to the lunar surface. SpaceX has published over various media (e.g., its official website, conference presentations, user manual) conceptual information for its reusable Starship to enable human exploration missions to the Martian surface by the end of the decade. The technological and human challenges associated with these plans are daunting. Such a mission at that distance would require excellent system reliability and in-situ-resource utilization on a grand scale, e.g. to produce propellant. The plans contain little details however and have not yet been reviewed concerning their feasibility. In this paper we show significant technological gaps in these plans. Based on estimates and extrapolated data, a mass model as needed to fulfill SpaceXโs plans could not be reproduced and the subsequent trajectory optimization showed that the current plans do not yield a return flight opportunity, due to a too large system mass. Furthermore, significant gaps exist in relevant technologies, e.g. power supply for the Martian surface. It is unlikely that these gaps can be closed until the end of the decade. We recommend several remedies, e.g. stronger international participation to distribute technology development and thus improve feasibility. Overall, with the limited information published by SpaceX about its system and mission scenario and extrapolation from us to fill information gaps, we were not able to find a feasible Mars mission scenario using Starship, even when assuming optimal conditions such as 100% recovery rate of crew consumables during flight.
Both companiesโ plans rely on the availability of an orbital propellant โฝ depot, which would fuel up their vehicles on the way to the #moon ๐. The biggest test will be the orbital propellant transfer demonstration https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/spacex-blue-origin-share-new-lunar-landing-profiles/
A single #NewGlenn rocket will be able to send the #BlueMoon lander to the Lunar #Gateway. But the lander wonโt have enough #propellant to make a powered descent to the lunar surface https://hackaday.com/2023/12/07/artemis-next-giant-leap-orbital-refueling/
@spaceflight That's enough for just two beyond LEO launches, and one of those will need to be the Artemis lander. There is also the challenge of getting all that propellant to the launch site -- trucking it all in takes a lot of time, and currently the tank farm really only covers one launch worth of prop. It will take a massive increase in their capacity to get prop on site.
I am very keen to see Starship succeed, but there are a lot of further things they have to solve.
@spaceflight A full 10-flight LEO refueling would take around 35,000 *tons* of prop. Thatโs a massive amount to transport.
Again, I really hope SpaceX works all this out, as I would love to see Starship succeed. But there are still massive logistics and infrastructure issues that need to be resolved.
@spaceflight That may be in the ballpark. However, that presumes that the tank farm at Starbase is expanded enough to hold 10 launches worth of prop.
I found this on reddit which may be helpful:
@spaceflight not only do we need a refill Depot in earth orbit. But we need a lunar refill Depot too. And refilling the lunar Depot is going to take a lot of earth launches.
If a full start ship in orbit is going to take 10 launches just to fill one ship, how many launches will a lunar depot require?
How many earth based launches are needed for lunar landing and return.
I think NASA will keep them pretty busy.
That and i have heard zero equipment being built for a Mars mission.
Spaceflight ๐
Lazarou Monkey Terror ๐๐๐
Eric J. Korpela
60sRefugee
Thomas Sturm
Michael Gemar
โฅแตแต Cแตธแตแถบแตแถซโธแตแต โ๏ธ
Rodbotic
Gulli
LordPhantom (Mathew)
Donald F Robertson