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Where is the door on the ITS?


cubinator

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Image result for interplanetary transport system

Ok, so we're building this giant rocket to send lots and lots of people to Mars and beyond. Let's say Elon Musk's plan works out and we get humans to Mars' surface safe and sound on this thing. They've aerobraked and landed without a hitch, and everybody's ready for the historic first step. But how do they get from the living space thirty or forty meters above the ground to a position where they can step off and put their feet on the regolith? Is there a ladder? A staircase? An elevator? A big pillow to fall onto? I can't seem to find anything even in cutaway diagrams like this one:

Image result for interplanetary transport system

Does anyone know where the exit is on this ship?

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1 hour ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I don't have the link, but Elon said there would be a deployable cable elevator.

Which begs the next question - where is the cargo door? For things bigger than a human?

Ehh, they've probably already thought about it.

Or (more likely) they have added it to a list of things to think about in years to come once hard design work starts.

(Disclaimer: List may or may not exist in a concrete, physical sense. Elon Musk may or may not be able to put his hands on said list if asked "where did you put it? You were the last one who had it!" Accuracy of said list can not be guaranteed. Do not burn, staple, fold or mutilate list!)

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14 minutes ago, Frybert said:

Length 49.5m. I feel like I'm missing something here.

I would assume they mean the hight, since th diameter is listed.

They do, according to space.com it is 49.5 meters tall.

Paragraph 3:

http://www.space.com/34210-elon-musk-unveils-spacex-mars-colony-ship.html

Edited by munlander1
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54 minutes ago, Frybert said:

Length 49.5m. I feel like I'm missing something here.

You are. Gravity is just 0.4g.

So first 30 launches they will drop from a window an inflatable trampoline.

Spoiler

First arrival to Mars. Pay attention for the caption, it's for service crew,

IF-WP-6-Inflatable-Trampoline.jpg

Later they will add elevator have enough already dropped trampolines from previous flights.

Also, USI MKS and WBI Pathfinder fans know what to do next.

Spoiler

Free-shipping-pool-inflatable-toy-trampo

 

5 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Which begs the next question - where is the cargo door? For things bigger than a human?

An elephant? You are going to send an elephant?

Edited by kerbiloid
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4 hours ago, Frybert said:

Length 49.5m. I feel like I'm missing something here.

No, you are not missing something. This is a premature question given the fact that the whole thing is nothing more than a concept paper and a presentation with a few funny aspects (like stealing underpants) and a length if you want. Which maybe totally different once things become clearer. Nothing of the ITS really exists and assuming that anyone yet knows when, where and if there are doors, ladders, crane on a traveller or whatever is like imagining a door without a frame.

Once it is clear how to build the ITS at all a ladder/crane/whatever can be put in the appropriate place.

Edit:   ... and, by the way, the door / cargo hatch is clearly visible on the first photo. The ladder is probably part of a mod. No pet peeve here ...

Edited by Green Baron
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Like the biggest problem with all the plan was that the ITS doesn't have an accessible door. They only talked about the propulsion subsystem. I don't really think there is anything really done in any other subsystem.
Releasing the ITS "specifications" is only a marketing move from SpaceX and/or for calming Musk's ego.

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At last they can drop out a rope ladder.

Or screw stairs inside. Maybe even expandable.

Spoiler

screw-stair-11017228.jpg

Or maybe nobody believes a descending device will be ever required...

Also what are those strange lights beyond the horizon, and which star shines in the sky?
And why the Martian soil looks like an ice? It's a polar cap? Then why a crater isn't molten out below? Those engines look very mighty and almost touch the surface.

Edited by kerbiloid
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1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Also what are those strange lights beyond the horizon, and which star shines in the sky?
And why the Martian soil looks like an ice? It's a polar cap? Then why a crater isn't molten out below? Those engines look very mighty and almost touch the surface.

Because it isn't picturing Mars, but Saturn's moon Enceladus, which is known to have some sort of geysirs.

There also exists a render of ITS on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Let's see if Red Dragon does a Schiaparelli landing on Mars or not (if it even reaches Mars :cool:), before we start bothering abouts Musk's visions.

Edited by Tullius
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The door is supposed to be on the side of the cargo with a deployable elevator winch.

And internal staircase or ladder seems out of question, because they don't seem to have any provisions for cutting a hole through the tanks.

Again, the whole concept is very high-level and there are many stumbling blocks that make the layout impractical at this stage. The biggest problem at this stage is the engine placement.

Edited by Nibb31
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11 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

almost full size carbon fiber cryo tank

Only the carbon part, they explained the tank didn't had the internal insulator surface, and that means that they only have a big carbon manufacturing machine. Also means that the mass estimations of the tanks could be terribly wrong.

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