I speel my dreenk
Member
No matter the event, the probability that the type of person who feels the need to get up and ask something will have some bizarre motive or just be generally creepy always seems to be off the charts.
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Elon Musk to announce SpaceX's Mars colonization plans at IAC on Tuesday (Sept. 27)
- Thread starter HellBlazer
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davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
send some of those entrepreneurs to mars
I definitely got the urge to play some KSP while watching this.
Not a big deal in that it's very manageable.
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
Supposedly we are in a new cold war with Russia, so I say let's hustle.
I'm picturing all of them being on a mission like in Sunshine. Though I haven't seen that in years so my memory could be rusty.
forknknife
Banned
hahaha Musk running away from the last question lol
funkystudent
Member
Russia or China would probably need to do something big in space first.
Like a modern Sputnik "Oh shit, We need to get going" moment.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Russia's moon program is getting well underway.
I do not envy the super rich like Elon Musk. Constantly hounded by people who want to either sell him something or get their brief moment of self-gratifying fame. The two other times I've seen him give a presentation like this, there was the same kind of crap questions and comments coming from the audience.
It's a shame too because unlike a lot of other wealthy entrepreneurs, he seems to actually want to have a serious dialog with average people about his ideas.
It's a shame too because unlike a lot of other wealthy entrepreneurs, he seems to actually want to have a serious dialog with average people about his ideas.
Orbis Tabula
Member
I could swear that the last time I listened to Musk speak, someone also bugged him to come check out his electric bus. I wonder if this guy just drives his bus around the country, stalking Elon Musk.
Kill Your Masters
Member
I assume if the first few "batches of humans" get there safely other governments will want to have a piece of mars cake too and will throw money at him.
Kill Your Masters
Member
As usual Simpsons did it first.An artist's recreation of the audience wining an all expenses paid trip into to space.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gXi2jE-Dxdw
I wonder how long it'll take for the first Martian astronauts/settlers to resent immigrants.
I know. I couldn't find a good gif of it.
So i used that instead.
Not really, he said he's trying to figure out how to get there and back.
The rest is pretty much "an opportunity" for someone else, I believe.
It's really pathetic that they would not have a person screening questions, I don't know how Elon manages to stay calm with these idiots...
Non-Americans would need approval from the Secretary of State/Defense, otherwise they can't be hired due to laws about advanced rocket tech. Musk isn't happy about the red tape, and I hope it will somehow inspire voters to make an exception
Russia can barely afford to keep its cosmonauts on the ISS, let alone mount a Moon mission. The Chinese are decades away from having the financial and technical means to go to the Moon, while the Europeans are more interested in their Ariane venture to care about anything beyond LEO (much to the annoyance of ESA's Director General who advocates a Euro Moon-base).
The truth is that the days of large, government funded space programs are long gone. NASA have now outsourced ISS taxi services to the private sector (SpaceX being one provider) and only having the Space Launch System in the works for beyond LEO duties. Even then it's doubtful it'll do all that much given how bloody expensive it is at $2 billion per launch, and the fact it's an entirely expendable system.
In this new era of reusable rockets there'll be outrage in 2023 (when it's supposed to first launch with astronauts) at the idea of destroying a rocket each time someone wants to go beyond LEO, especially when you consider that by then multiple private launch providers will be regularly flying reusable launchers.
Yeah, it is pretty embarrassing how badly NASA has missed the boat on re-usability. Imagine what they could achieve on their budget if they had a bit of vision rather than their safety first approach. Sad really.
Barnaby_Jones
Member
Once again, I'm just gonna throw it out there that I've got dibs if we do a pool to send a Gaffer to Mars. I have loads of hours logged in KSP (but still haven't been past duna, so it's basically destiny)and I'd be happy to give up my cargo space so we can send any random shit there we wanted. I'll also work tirelessly on carving the GAF logo into the martian surface.
I think that SpaceX is not focused on solving that issue, they're into the whole "How the hell we send folks to mars and back" problem.
Im sure NASA or other private companies are looking into the food issue.
I'm kinda curious... Who will govern the colony, and what Nation will it represent, if any? Will sections of Mars become US soil?
In fairness to NASA they thought the Shuttle was going to be the future for them. Shame it turned out to even more costly and dangerous than traditional capsule designs. The SLS is pure pork that I'm afraid will do more harm than good regarding space exploration. Better to give some of that NASA budget to the private sector. NASA were the ones who got SpaceX where it is today by providing them with development funding after all.
Well, airliners don't really concern themselves with the amenities and living provisions of the destination of its passengers in fairness. Musk is primarily concerned with providing the means to get to Mars, and other destinations. Building of the Martian colony can be someone else's job. God knows he's got enough work to keep him occupied for the foreseeable future without having to build a whole city to boot!
Lol.
I haven't listened to the conference yet, but I am quite curious how people are supposed to live on Mars without an established supply chain that can keep people fed and all the machinery in working condition. Surely the first people who go there will have to establish this supply chain somehow, and it will have to sustain itself only on materials available on Mars. Unless the plan is to rely on constant missions from the Earth.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
And French psychiatrists to help them decide which one of the two Alpha Americans on board they love.
I see. Sounds super interesting, here's hoping it works out (although I'm not likely be one of the first passengers for several reasons
)."FREE SPACE" sounds like it could be offered to a competition winner.
RaySpencer
Member
Haha. Great.
The Elite
BOSS
I am curious if they will test the people who go. Money alone shouldn't get you on the ship. In an emergency situation you can't have idiots fucking things up on an alien world or on a spaceship.
The margin for error is low.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
A reduction of their permanent ISS presence from 3 to 2 (one less than NASA's crew, which often includes a 3rd party member) is 'barely affording to keep its cosmonauts on the ISS'? Have you considered they might not be that interested in keeping that many people on the ISS, same way NASA often goes 2 + 1 outsider?
Sure the next Roscosmos budget is not the largest in history, but they also just opened a new spaceport (Vostochny) and have their new Angara rocket tests underway. Not to mention their next-gen Soyuz MS crew ship got its inaugural mission perfect back in July. No, they don't have reusability yet (just like everybody not called SpaceX), but they have predictability and reliability, so everybody can keep enjoying their ISS trips. So let's not take that dismissive angle at them just yet.
Your comment here is about as embarrassing.
orientalNoodle
Banned
I was disappointed with this announcement really. I just didn't get the impression that plans could be achieved given the timeline and funding. Many required technologies to make the strip safe and successful were not announce, like how are they shielding the spaceship from high energy gamma ray and cosmic ray? What about sustainable food production? Life support system? Recycling? Robotic assistance machines and vehicles? The astronauts can't do the construction on mars with only manpower. How are they going to extract water and oxygen from the martian soil for life support and return fuel?
You missed third generation. I chuckled sensibly when he dropped it.
Looks we are of the same mind here. Like I said earlier in this thread, I'm a skeptic that Musk can accomplished any of this, as there are too many unanswered questions still left on the table, and Musk does not have a good enough track record that leads me to believe that he can. He's someone who can inspire others to pursue greater goals, which is his true strength IMO, but beyond that his engineering/business skills are very lacking. He probably needs to reduce himself to a role similar to Robert Zubrin, a person who advocates for major advancements but not actually pursue them personally.
I'm also going to add that the new rocket appears to be an extremely dangerous one. The first stage is very similar to the N1, a rocket with a terrible safety record, and the upper stages appears to have no launch escape mechanism at all. I can't imagine a rocket like this ever being allowed to launch human beings into orbit given those apparent issues.
Oh lol, didnt catch it.
Its fine tho, not a bingo this time.
Dictator93
Member
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