Posted on 02/05/2018 10:38:46 PM PST by BenLurkin
The problem with space junk is in Earth orbit. The Tesla will be in orbit around the Sun if successful.
BTW, people are already showing up at the viewing locations.
Two hundred years from now, there will be a great disaster in space involving the loss of a craft with dozens or more aboard and (against all conceivable odds) it’ll be that dang roadster’s fault!
Just what the solar system needs, enviro-cultists determined to make sure we don’t litter. Thankfully the EPA’s tentacles don’t extend to the heliocentric orbit Musk plans to put his Tesla in.
Will be very impressive if it works.
Maybe a thousand years from now we can worry about space junk in solar orbit. For now, it applies to junk in low earth orbit.
Space cop:"license, registration, and proof of current insurance please. . . "
Star Trek - Keep America Beautiful PSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy5M5Xo4wcQ
27 engines? There’s a lot that can go wrong. Interesting design decision. Wouldn’t five Saturn V class engines be inherently more reliable?
A thousand years from now some archeologist will attempt to find the legendary “Space Oddity”.
I learned from our local news broadcast that the Tesla Roadster is destined to fly to Mars and go into orbit around that planet. I can imagine an effort in the distant future for bringing it down to the Martian surface and going for a flying run on its recharged battery.
No because all three boosters are designed to fly back and land for reuse.
Well, perhaps more cost effective, but I don’t know about reliable...could be new technology has made things more reliable, but hard to compare...we don’t have a huge Saturn 5 pool of launches to compare to.
27 engines...I know.
If you look at the Delta IV (the current ACTIVE heavy-lift champion), it has just one engine per booster. With 27...you’re getting into the problems that killed the Soviet N-1 booster. Thrust balance and control being just a couple of the problems.
I’m going to be the pessimist here and give it a 35% chance of working right. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Addendums: Hopefully, we won’t have to pull out the “It blowed up real good!” guys.
I foresee a good sci-fi comedy based on this.
“But what’s the point of sending a car into space? Is it bound to become just more space junk? “
It’s already earth junk.Send Gore with it.
The article points out the challenges of getting them all ignited at the same instant. I wonder how much latitude there is in the timing.
Reliability is going to be mainly rooted in metallurgy, combustion, turbo machinery, bearings, fluid handling...the mundane stuff that hasn’t changed much in 50 years. The application of tech will affect control systems, data collection and telemetry, but those things shouldn’t affect reliability much.
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