Ilon Musk about the expedition to Mars: "It is dangerous, and people will probably die"
But settling Mars, in his opinion, is the only reliable way to save humanity.
Dragon spacecraft on Mars (artist's work)
Back in 2014, Ilon Musk gave an extensive interview.regarding plans for settling Mars. According to the entrepreneur, settling the Red Planet is necessary for the future of mankind - this is a reliable way to preserve our civilization. By 2100, according to Musk, there should be about a million people on Mars. All of them will be able to provide genetic diversity sufficient for the development of the entire population of "Martians". This should be done on the basis of several considerations. First, settling the neighboring planet will allow preserving civilization if a catastrophe occurs on the Earth itself. Secondly, the colonization of the planets of the solar system is something like a springboard for a man to reach the stars. This is a prototype of a planetary colony that will help settle any other planets in any other region of the Universe. Elon Musk even expressed such an opinion, understandable without translation: “Fuck Earth! Who cares about Earth?
True, the descendants of the first colonists will reap the fruits of the settling of Mars, and they themselves will have difficulty. The main problem is the inability to receive outside help. If some kind of minor breakdown happens (small by the standards of the Earth), then in the conditions of Mars it can become critical. All this is known, but does not affect either the desire of thousands of people to become the very first movers, nor the desire of Mask to provide these people with transport to Mars. He himself founded SpaceX 14 years ago with only one goal - the preparation of a manned manned expedition to Mars.
Starting in 2018, Spacex plans to send an unmanned aerial vehicle to Mars every two years. This period is chosen because the Earth and Mars converge on the minimum distances just every two years. If all goes well, the person will be sent to the Red Planet as early as 2025. By the way, NASA also plans to send people to Mars, but a little later - by 2030.
Recently, the entrepreneur said additional details.about the planned expedition. He compared its participants with the colonists who first crossed the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of years ago. And he recognizes the difficulties that the colonists from Earth will face. The main difficulty is the distance of Mars from Earth for many millions of kilometers. It all starts with the launch of a super-heavy launch vehicle that is already being prepared by the company. Then the colonists will have to spend a month in space, in far from the most comfortable conditions. This month will be “difficult, risky, dangerous and difficult,” but Musk is confident that the establishment of the English colonies was also an extremely difficult undertaking. But the people wanted it, and they became pioneers. Now pioneers want to be those who like space and the exploration of other planets.
Before the colonists get aboard, several unmanned rovers and equipment will be sent to Mars. All this will be created both by SpaceX, and by other companies. The first flights will have to clarify some points in interplanetary navigation and allow the company to master the smooth landing of the spacecraft to Mars.
“It will be regular shipping. You can calculate the frequency. Cargo will be shipped every 26 months. About how the train leaves regularly from the station. And if scientists from all over the world understand that cargo transportation is safe and relatively inexpensive (compared to previous expeditions), then they will be able to plan their actions and carry out a large number of necessary experiments, ”says Musk. The first unmanned spacex expedition to Mars should be held in 2018.
These plans are quite bold, given the lack of government support, as is the case with NASA. The agency has huge resources. which it can dispose of. SpaceX has great resources too, but they are incomparable with what NASA has. On a positive note, the agency will support the 2018 expedition. But the support will not be financial, but resource - the agency will provide its technologies and developments to the engineers who are now developing a "trip to Mars." In addition, the agency plans to send people to the Red Planet and on its own . True, the US Congress has now expressed hope (or rather, NASA indicated the need) for astronauts to return to the moon before carrying out expeditions to Mars.
SpaceX’s first Martian mission, scheduled for 2018, will be carried out using two basic instruments - the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon Heavy super-heavy launch vehicle.. This is really a big rocket with 27 Merlin 1D class engines. Engines create a thrust of 22819 kN at sea level and 24897 kN in a vacuum. For the first time this rocket will be tested this year. And at that time, Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful rocket in the world, from which they launch launches right now. It is planned that the carrier will be able to deliver up to 54.4 tons to a low reference orbit, up to 22.2 tons to a geo-transfer orbit and up to 13.6 tons to Mars. Falcon Heavy, like Falcon 9, will be equipped with reusable system elements for controlled return and soft landing of both the central unit and side accelerators.
Dragon spacecraft will be the largest object made by the hands of a man who descended to the surface of Mars. It is also worth remembering that of the 43 expeditions to Mars (unmanned), only 18 were successful. The last successful attempt to land on Mars was the delivery of the Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. As we see, the probability of a successful landing is not too great, and many experts doubt that everything will go smoothly. The key moment of the expedition will be the landing of the Dragon using its own engines in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars.
Already in 2020, Musk is going to send at least two Dragon ships to Mars, which will be launched by the same Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.
According to the head of SpaceX, by 2020 there will be several organizations interested in conducting experiments on Mars.
In 2022, he plans to send to Mars what SpaceX is passing through as Mars Colonial Transporter. This transport system will carry the colonists to Mars. Unfortunately, Musk didn’t give too many details on this topic, promising to tell more about this stage in September. He himself considers it a "brain explosion."
People will initially be sent in the smallest possible groups, "because if something goes wrong, we want to put as few lives as possible at risk." If all goes well, and the plan will be implemented exactly in time, then the next window for sending a manned expedition to Mars will open in 2024 and 2025.
"I want to emphasize that this is [a colony of humans on Mars, - approx. Ed.] does not apply only to sending a few people to Mars. We are planning to create a system capable of supporting the existence of an autonomous city on Mars, with the goal of turning our species into a multi-planetary one, turning civilization into a space one, which one day will travel among the stars, ”comments Musk.
Mask does not say anything yet about who will fly first, or how people will choose (it’s worth paying attention to the same Mars One project , which is accused of fraud). According to SpaceX, the first should be people who want to establish a Martian city, albeit at great risk. “It's dangerous and people will probably die - and they know it. But they will pave the way, which will make the road to Mars safe and very comfortable. But it will not be very soon. "
As for flights to other star systems, Maskis stilldoes not plan such missions. They are long-term, the corresponding technologies have not yet been created, and whole generations of cosmonauts will have to participate in the project. First it is necessary to settle on Mars, then fly to the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, to asteroids. And only then think about the transition to the interstellar level.
Dragon spacecraft on Mars (artist's work)
Back in 2014, Ilon Musk gave an extensive interview.regarding plans for settling Mars. According to the entrepreneur, settling the Red Planet is necessary for the future of mankind - this is a reliable way to preserve our civilization. By 2100, according to Musk, there should be about a million people on Mars. All of them will be able to provide genetic diversity sufficient for the development of the entire population of "Martians". This should be done on the basis of several considerations. First, settling the neighboring planet will allow preserving civilization if a catastrophe occurs on the Earth itself. Secondly, the colonization of the planets of the solar system is something like a springboard for a man to reach the stars. This is a prototype of a planetary colony that will help settle any other planets in any other region of the Universe. Elon Musk even expressed such an opinion, understandable without translation: “Fuck Earth! Who cares about Earth?
True, the descendants of the first colonists will reap the fruits of the settling of Mars, and they themselves will have difficulty. The main problem is the inability to receive outside help. If some kind of minor breakdown happens (small by the standards of the Earth), then in the conditions of Mars it can become critical. All this is known, but does not affect either the desire of thousands of people to become the very first movers, nor the desire of Mask to provide these people with transport to Mars. He himself founded SpaceX 14 years ago with only one goal - the preparation of a manned manned expedition to Mars.
Starting in 2018, Spacex plans to send an unmanned aerial vehicle to Mars every two years. This period is chosen because the Earth and Mars converge on the minimum distances just every two years. If all goes well, the person will be sent to the Red Planet as early as 2025. By the way, NASA also plans to send people to Mars, but a little later - by 2030.
Recently, the entrepreneur said additional details.about the planned expedition. He compared its participants with the colonists who first crossed the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of years ago. And he recognizes the difficulties that the colonists from Earth will face. The main difficulty is the distance of Mars from Earth for many millions of kilometers. It all starts with the launch of a super-heavy launch vehicle that is already being prepared by the company. Then the colonists will have to spend a month in space, in far from the most comfortable conditions. This month will be “difficult, risky, dangerous and difficult,” but Musk is confident that the establishment of the English colonies was also an extremely difficult undertaking. But the people wanted it, and they became pioneers. Now pioneers want to be those who like space and the exploration of other planets.
Before the colonists get aboard, several unmanned rovers and equipment will be sent to Mars. All this will be created both by SpaceX, and by other companies. The first flights will have to clarify some points in interplanetary navigation and allow the company to master the smooth landing of the spacecraft to Mars.
“It will be regular shipping. You can calculate the frequency. Cargo will be shipped every 26 months. About how the train leaves regularly from the station. And if scientists from all over the world understand that cargo transportation is safe and relatively inexpensive (compared to previous expeditions), then they will be able to plan their actions and carry out a large number of necessary experiments, ”says Musk. The first unmanned spacex expedition to Mars should be held in 2018.
These plans are quite bold, given the lack of government support, as is the case with NASA. The agency has huge resources. which it can dispose of. SpaceX has great resources too, but they are incomparable with what NASA has. On a positive note, the agency will support the 2018 expedition. But the support will not be financial, but resource - the agency will provide its technologies and developments to the engineers who are now developing a "trip to Mars." In addition, the agency plans to send people to the Red Planet and on its own . True, the US Congress has now expressed hope (or rather, NASA indicated the need) for astronauts to return to the moon before carrying out expeditions to Mars.
SpaceX’s first Martian mission, scheduled for 2018, will be carried out using two basic instruments - the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon Heavy super-heavy launch vehicle.. This is really a big rocket with 27 Merlin 1D class engines. Engines create a thrust of 22819 kN at sea level and 24897 kN in a vacuum. For the first time this rocket will be tested this year. And at that time, Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful rocket in the world, from which they launch launches right now. It is planned that the carrier will be able to deliver up to 54.4 tons to a low reference orbit, up to 22.2 tons to a geo-transfer orbit and up to 13.6 tons to Mars. Falcon Heavy, like Falcon 9, will be equipped with reusable system elements for controlled return and soft landing of both the central unit and side accelerators.
Dragon spacecraft will be the largest object made by the hands of a man who descended to the surface of Mars. It is also worth remembering that of the 43 expeditions to Mars (unmanned), only 18 were successful. The last successful attempt to land on Mars was the delivery of the Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. As we see, the probability of a successful landing is not too great, and many experts doubt that everything will go smoothly. The key moment of the expedition will be the landing of the Dragon using its own engines in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars.
Already in 2020, Musk is going to send at least two Dragon ships to Mars, which will be launched by the same Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.
| No | Date and Time (UTC) | Type of | Launch pad | Payload | Orbit | Customer | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled launches | |||||||
| one | November 2016 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | Payload layout | Spacex | ||
| The first demonstration flight. Planned landing side accelerators and the central unit. | |||||||
| 2 | March 2017 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | DSX, FORMOSAT 7A / B / C / D / E / F, LightSail-B, GPIM | Noo | USAF | |
| The second demonstration flight with the launch of the payload. | |||||||
| 2017 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | EuropaSat / HellasSat 3 | GPO | Inmarsat | ||
| 2017 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | Inmarsat 5-F4 | GPO | Inmarsat | ||
| 2017 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | GPO | Intelsat | |||
| 2018 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | Red dragon | to mars | Spacex | ||
| Unmanned mission of the ship Dragon with landing on the surface of Mars. | |||||||
| 2018 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | ArabSat 6A | GPO | ArabSat | ||
| 2019-2020 | Heavy | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A | ViaSat-3 | GPO | ViaSat | ||
According to the head of SpaceX, by 2020 there will be several organizations interested in conducting experiments on Mars.
In 2022, he plans to send to Mars what SpaceX is passing through as Mars Colonial Transporter. This transport system will carry the colonists to Mars. Unfortunately, Musk didn’t give too many details on this topic, promising to tell more about this stage in September. He himself considers it a "brain explosion."
People will initially be sent in the smallest possible groups, "because if something goes wrong, we want to put as few lives as possible at risk." If all goes well, and the plan will be implemented exactly in time, then the next window for sending a manned expedition to Mars will open in 2024 and 2025.
"I want to emphasize that this is [a colony of humans on Mars, - approx. Ed.] does not apply only to sending a few people to Mars. We are planning to create a system capable of supporting the existence of an autonomous city on Mars, with the goal of turning our species into a multi-planetary one, turning civilization into a space one, which one day will travel among the stars, ”comments Musk.
Mask does not say anything yet about who will fly first, or how people will choose (it’s worth paying attention to the same Mars One project , which is accused of fraud). According to SpaceX, the first should be people who want to establish a Martian city, albeit at great risk. “It's dangerous and people will probably die - and they know it. But they will pave the way, which will make the road to Mars safe and very comfortable. But it will not be very soon. "
As for flights to other star systems, Mask