Yesterday, on the 27th of September, Elon Musk once again presented what SpaceX has been working on for a log time: The all-new, so called Interplanetary Transport System. With this spacecraft Musk plans to send people to Mars and actually plan a colony. While he did not talk about some problems like where people are going to eat, gravity (the ship in the video below doesn't appear to be rotating) and radiation he did reveal his plans on how to reach Mars and how the Spaceship will look like, along with some details on how long colonization might take. But before we go in detail, watch the animated video of how the journey will take place:
The spaceship will be reused around 1000 times and will have the following specifications:
-The spaceship will probably named "Heart of Gold" which is a reference to the spaceship in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
-it shall take 100 persons per trip, but this number is planned to be lifted up to 200 as the costs for each passenger would decrease by doing so
-depending on the year the trip will take 80-150 days
-the height of the spaceship is approx. 122 meters
-the ship will be refuelled in space
Besides Musk outlined that a trip to Mars would NOT be a one way thing. He said that it’s important to give people the option of returning, even if they decide not to go. And, in any case, “we need the spaceship back”. On the trip, Musk states further, will be many fun activities like zero-G games, movies, cabins, games, and even a restaurant.
Some fun facts about his announcement:
Musk appears to have taken Steve Jobs' way of presenting as an inspiring example, but in the Q&A time some weird persons acted crazy:
- a man wanted to hand a comic book about the first man on Mars to Musk
-a woman wondered if she could kiss Elon Musk on behalf of all ladies
-the question wether SpaceX planned to dispose all the human feces on Mars
All in all, you can say that SpaceX once again made us feel like colonization of mars will be possible in near future. And who wouldn't go on a journey to visit the red planet? (Of course thee are still many things to be planned, realises and financed)
You can watch Musk's complete announcement here:
As always: if you find any information being wrong please post below and I will change/edit this post. Source for this information were several articles on The Verge.
Space travel has always been a fascination to me. I watched intently as Neil Armstrong made his first steps on the moon. I watched the Apollo 13 drama unfold. we were not made aware of the severity of the situation until years later. I would love to be out there, but my age and physical shape would forbid it :-(
The moment they make this possible and affordable I'm off to visit Mars. Must be a lifetime experience. I'm not sure tho wether I would stay or go back again