He could. It isn't.Musk's economic and social theories are generally terrible, but you must admit his rockets work very well, and the ones in development are literally designed to take us to Mars.
His ideas about colonisation are far fetched but they're not impossible. He follows Robert Zubrin, whose proposals for Mars missions are rather more sound (not relying on any future technology or nuking the poles, etc.) and if you are in any doubt about crewed missions to Mars you should listen to any of his talks or lectures.
(His ideas about colonisation are far fetched but they're not impossible. He follows Robert Zubrin, whose proposals for Mars missions are rather more sound (not relying on any future technology or nuking the poles, etc.) and if you are in any doubt about crewed missions to Mars you should listen to any of his talks or lectures.
brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum,
Tue 4 Oct 2022, 20:00,
archived)
"and if you are in any doubt about crewed missions to Mars you should listen to any of his talks or lectures"Words are cheap. There have been relatively few attempts to land a craft on mars. Failures are many, in fact I think the majority have failed. Manned landing has never even been attempted. The most obvious preparation for establishing an off-world base on another planet would be to set one up on the relatively easily-accessible lunar surface. That has not even been seriously suggested in the last 30 years.
(
mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 12:22,
archived)
To be clear, I know nothing about space travel. I know a fuck of a lot about bullshit and human nature though. mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 12:23,
archived)
That's pretty obvious based on how wrong you are about everything you say on the subject.Artemis's stated goal is to establish a moon base. Artemis 1 is waiting to launch as I type this.
I think Mars landing attempts are a little better than 50% successful these days. Russia brought the average waaaay down.
Words are cheap, but dismissing expert opinion by invoking 'bullshit' is Govian anti-intellectualism. You actually need to have an understanding of what the subject involves before you can form a valid opinion on it.
(I think Mars landing attempts are a little better than 50% successful these days. Russia brought the average waaaay down.
Words are cheap, but dismissing expert opinion by invoking 'bullshit' is Govian anti-intellectualism. You actually need to have an understanding of what the subject involves before you can form a valid opinion on it.
brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 14:42,
archived)
Right now it involves Elon Musk shooting his mouth off, in essence. 'Stated goal' is exactly that: a statement. They're just now starting to properly test the earth-to-moon transport. How far away from having a moon base which is sufficiently developed to include a large fully-staffed rocket launch facility is that? And all of this is just the preface to the real mission. The fact remains, there has never even been an attempt at a manned mission to Mars, and for good reason. Sadly even the proposed Perseverance sample return mission seems somewhat unlikely to happen based on the very vague gestures made towards it by nasa.
( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 17:13,
archived)
He's not just shooting his mouth off though, is he?To reiterate, the SpaceX Starship project is in development right now. Starship (FKA Big Fffffalcon Rocket, FKA the Interplanetary Transport System) is literally designed as an ...interplanetary transport system to take large numbers of people to Mars (NASA has also commissioned a lunar variant for the Artemis project, a real mission to establish a permanent presence on the moon, which is actually happening). You can watch the Starship prototypes being built and tested live on the internet.
How far away from having a moon base? A small number of years. First the orbital base (Zubrin's 'orbital toll booth'), then there will be various landers, some of which will contain habitation modules, some of which will be permanent features on the surface. To me, that's a moon base.
How far away from your moving goalpost? A few decades, or less if we pull our fingers out. The process for extracting water from lunar regolith is pretty simple in theory (collect dirt, add heat, collect vapour), and once we have that technology in place we already know how to extract hydrogen fuel and oxygen. Not sure how much staff would be required.
Not sure how you're defining an attempt at a manned Mars mission. Obviously there has been no crewed launch to Mars, but they have been proposed. You should really check out Robert Zubrin, who worked on designing crewed Mars missions from the 80s onwards. He's the creator of 'Mars Direct' and its subsequent updated plans. It all uses existing technology.
The good reason it's not been paid for yet is (in chronological order): The collapse of the British Empire (and subsequent abandonment of the British space program), Mao's scientist purge (and consequent late entry into the space race), the collapse of the Soviet Union (or maybe even the death of Korolev in 1966), and the American short term political system/military-industrial complex. Space Shuttle was a jobs program that effectively stalled the US space program for a generation. If Apollo technology had been developed, if reusability had been prioritised sooner, we could have had crewed missions all over the solar system by now!
(How far away from having a moon base? A small number of years. First the orbital base (Zubrin's 'orbital toll booth'), then there will be various landers, some of which will contain habitation modules, some of which will be permanent features on the surface. To me, that's a moon base.
How far away from your moving goalpost? A few decades, or less if we pull our fingers out. The process for extracting water from lunar regolith is pretty simple in theory (collect dirt, add heat, collect vapour), and once we have that technology in place we already know how to extract hydrogen fuel and oxygen. Not sure how much staff would be required.
Not sure how you're defining an attempt at a manned Mars mission. Obviously there has been no crewed launch to Mars, but they have been proposed. You should really check out Robert Zubrin, who worked on designing crewed Mars missions from the 80s onwards. He's the creator of 'Mars Direct' and its subsequent updated plans. It all uses existing technology.
The good reason it's not been paid for yet is (in chronological order): The collapse of the British Empire (and subsequent abandonment of the British space program), Mao's scientist purge (and consequent late entry into the space race), the collapse of the Soviet Union (or maybe even the death of Korolev in 1966), and the American short term political system/military-industrial complex. Space Shuttle was a jobs program that effectively stalled the US space program for a generation. If Apollo technology had been developed, if reusability had been prioritised sooner, we could have had crewed missions all over the solar system by now!
brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 20:15,
archived)
And really, think about what it might take to be an expert on something which has never even been attempted. mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 17:15,
archived)
Literally denying the concept of expertise. brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum,
Wed 5 Oct 2022, 20:16,
archived)