Red Dragon confirmed!!

[Spaceception]

7 minutes ago, MajorLeaugeRocketScience said:

I know, but looking at how fast they do crazy stuff, I'm just saying it's possible. If they did it, they would just bring a ESA guy, a JAXA guy, a Russian guy, and a NASA guy all on on the mission for free, knowing Elon 

4 people to Mars? For a 1 - 1 1/2 year long mission? And a capsule or 2 the size of SUV's?

Mark managed it, yes, but he was only 1 guy, and he knew that he would be saved if he did it, plus he was on a planet, not free space, so when he went outside, he was (Relatively) safe.

[fredinno]

42 minutes ago, Streetwind said:

Sweet stuff. I wonder what it will carry.

I mean, test vehicle or not, I'm sure there'll be plenty of scientists who'll go "I don't care if this has only a <insert made-up low number> percent chance of working on the first try, I want my instrument on there!"

Good luck doing that in 2 years.

In any case, there's only power for a few days, I don't think it's worth it...

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

Jupiter, ready or not, here we come!!!

After a 5 year gravity assist tour, only to be fried in the radiation belts?

[PB666]

Just now, Spaceception said:

4 people to Mars? For a 1 - 1 1/2 year long mission? And a capsule or 2 the size of SUV's?

Mark managed it, yes, but he was only 1 guy, and he knew that he would be saved if he did it, plus he was on a planet, not free space, so when he went outside, he was (Relatively) safe.

Ok now you are fatasizing. Its just a capsule, not like it hasn't been done before. Getting to mars, no problem, landing on mars, a problem, getting off of mars or getting humans on mars, bigger problem, getting 4 humans on mars, not yet doable. Getting them back to earth, r/futurology.

[Spaceception]

11 minutes ago, Gaarst said:

We all know how well SpaceX plan their things and how they are always on time... 

Well... Seeing as it's all their stuff, and not commercial, they may do it on time, plus this is going to be in 2 years, a lot can happen in 2 years.

Also, video!

 

1 minute ago, PB666 said:

Ok now you are fatasizing. Its just a capsule, not like it hasn't been done before.

Yeah... 3 people, For Apollo 8, and a trip that took less than a week.

[PB666]

3 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

Well... Seeing as it's all their stuff, and not commercial, they may do it on time, plus this is going to be in 2 years, a lot can happen in 2 years.

Also, video!

 

Yeah... 3 people, For Apollo 8, and a trip that took less than a week.

yeah and the moon was 1000 times closer and required half the dV to get on and off of.

HUmans have this thing, don't know if you have heard of it, its called eating. Think of it as DoT if you don't have food, eventually its 3 humans, then 2 humans, then 1 and then a smelly capsule.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by PB666

[Wjolcz]

Do people actually believe it will be crewed? I mean it's pretty obvious it won't be, but either way if they land the pod only, then it will be the first private company to go interplanetary on their own.

I'm not sure if they will make it there in 2018, but even if they don't I'm excited. SpaceX seems like they actually want to achieve something on their own and I'm all for that.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Veeltch

[Kartoffelkuchen]

16 minutes ago, fredinno said:

In any case, there's only power for a few days, I don't think it's worth it...

Hello? You stated this already the second third time now. And that doesn't make it more correct. Dragon V2 *has* solar panels directly attached to the side of the dragon trunk!

 

Please actually inform yourself @fredinno before you post something like this!

Edited April 27, 2016 by Kartoffelkuchen

[Spaceception]

6 minutes ago, PB666 said:

yeah and the moon was 1000 times closer and required half the dV to get on and off of.

HUmans have this thing, don't know if you have heard of it, its called eating. Think of it as DoT if you don't have food, eventually its 3 humans, then 2 humans, then 1 and then a smelly capsule.

Cannibalism? Really?

[sevenperforce]

Only a few days of power post-landing, since the trunk can't survive a landing. Then again, it won't be hard to add batteries or a fuel cell to the payload.

The notion that this could be used for sample return, on the other hand, are quite ill-conceived. The Dragon V2 does not have nearly enough propellant for direct SSTO ascent from the Martian surface.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by sevenperforce

[Spaceception]

3 minutes ago, Kartoffelkuchen said:

Hello? You stated this already the second time now. And that doesn't make it more correct. Dragon V2 *has* solar panels directly attached to the side of the dragon trunk!

 

Please actually inform yourself @fredinno before you post something like this!

I think he means once it's on the surface

[sevenperforce]

2 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

Cannibalism? Really?

I think the implication was that they were starving to death one by one.

[Camacha]

I assume the first mission(s) will be an unmanned trial run, if they really are launching that soon. There is no better way to learn how to do it than to smack some equipment into dirt.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Camacha

[sevenperforce]

Elon did specifically say that the Dragon V2 would be man-rated for LEO and lunar missions, but nothing outside of the Earth-moon system due to limited life support and space constraints.

[Spaceception]

1 minute ago, sevenperforce said:

I think the implication was that they were starving to death one by one.

Well, if that's the case, that means he thinks I suggested a manned Mars flyby, which I didn't.

[Kryten]

10 minutes ago, Veeltch said:

Do people actually believe it will be crewed? I mean it's pretty obvious it won't be, but either way if they land the pod only then it will be the first private company to go interplanetary on their own.

Depends how you define 'interplanetary', Luxspace have already done a lunar flyby and should have a lunar orbiter by the time this flies.

[Wjolcz]

1 minute ago, Kryten said:

Depends how you define 'interplanetary', Luxspace have already done a lunar flyby and should have a lunar orbiter by the time this flies.

They didn't use their own rocket and went to the Moon, not Mars.

IIRC 'interplanetary' is a journey from planet A to planet B. The Moon is not a planet.

[Camacha]

5 minutes ago, Kryten said:

Depends how you define 'interplanetary', Luxspace have already done a lunar flyby and should have a lunar orbiter by the time this flies.

The moon is not a planet, so you will need to diverge quite a bit from conventional nomenclature.

[Kryten]

Just now, Camacha said:

The moon is not a planet, so you will need to diverge quite a bit from conventional nomenclature.

That's not how interplanetary is usually defined. There is some argument over whether moon missions count, but nobody says e.g. New Horizons or Hayabusa aren't interplanetary.

[Camacha]

1 minute ago, Kryten said:

That's not how interplanetary is usually defined. There is some argument over whether moon missions count, but nobody says e.g. New Horizons or Hayabusa aren't interplanetary.

That is because those are at least in interplanetary medium. Defining the SOI of Earth as such is a still a bit of a stretch. If it still orbits Earth, directly or indirectly, you will need to be really creative with your definitions to call it interplanetary.

[PB666]

37 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

I think the implication was that they were starving to death one by one.

I think the implication is to read the original article, Space X is desirous of a 2026 manned mission, but until they actually start building a mars manned vehicle, best to keep it limited to the unmanned stuff. The 2018 is unmanned. Presumbably by then they will have the boca chica pad in operation and they can launch mulitple vehicles at once that can hook up in space. As for right now, its not a really special mission.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36155591

let me qoute this so that Spaception won't overlook it this time.

Quote

Mr Musk has long targeted a trip to Mars and has previously said he can get humans to the red planet by 2026. - http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36155591

 

30 minutes ago, Camacha said:

That is because those are at least in interplanetary medium. Defining the SOI of Earth as such is a still a bit of a stretch. If it still orbits Earth, directly or indirectly, you will need to be really creative with your definitions to call it interplanetary.

L1 or L2 you are in orbit around a point on the line that the SOI intercepts. Theoretically, Part of the ship is thus in solar SOI and part in Earths SOI, though really it bobs in an out. Technically an L1 an L2 orbit is a satellite of the earth/moon//sun system (a binary in that context).

[More Boosters]

My understanding of "interplanetary" is outside the Earth's SoI. Sure, the Moon has its own SoI, but it is contained by Earth's SoI unless I'm mistaken.

[sevenperforce]

The simplest and least controversial way to define interplanetary would be "starting at one planet's orbit and crossing another planet's orbit."

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

I'm excited that they'er doing this. It will be useful for manned missions.

[tater]

By "SLS people," I was thinking more about Congress. It starts making SLS/Orion look pretty pointless...'and they won't have that.

 

[cantab]

I don't think anything is confirmed other than "Elon wants to drop a probe on Mars in 2018."

As for powering a scientific payload, couldn't it open the hatch and deploy solar arrays that way, if the exterior aerodynamics need to be unchanged?