Posted on 02/18/2022 8:45:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv
"It will obsolesce all existing launch systems".
Elon Musk recently provided the first big update on SpaceX's Mars-bound rocket, Starship, and its competitors are watching on with "a mix of awe and horror", according to a report from Politico.
At his latest Starship presentation, SpaceX CEO Musk highlighted the fact that Starship will be reusable over and over again at a fraction of the cost of previous rockets. It's a development that threatens to leave NASA and other competitors in its wake as it launches to the proverbial stratosphere...
While it has long been known that Starship would be reusable, the advanced capabilities reportedly have other space organizations, including NASA, worried that their own in-development rocket projects will be rendered obsolete...
Starship is designed to be the first reusable spacecraft that will be able to take crew and cargo to the Moon and Mars before returning to Earth. By contrast, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) for its Artemis Moon landing missions has gone billions of dollars over original budget estimations and is years behind schedule. What's more, NASA estimates that an SLS mission will cost approximately $2 billion per launch, while Musk announced in his latest presentation that a Starship mission could cost a comparatively low $1 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at interestingengineering.com ...
Unless you have a specific target in mind.
If Elon can do it cheaper and make a profit, he will, and SHOULD! To hell with the NASA glut!
The Soviets did not send astronauts to the moon.
After reading that article I think you know one reason why.
;-)
There is a solution of course—nanotechnology in the suits—and that is well into development.
And next, get Elon to displace/replace the US Mail system!!!
You mean there is no secret mission the Russians did and there is wreckage of one of the craft on the moon, the Dark Side of it????? LOL
This one qualifies as a BUFF.
Huge step, if he can deliver!
This is the first real step to being able to intercept and divert asteroids.
Unlike global warming, we can do something about asteroid strikes on earth and it is a certainty that a major asteroid strike will happen unless we develop that capability.
We should be spending public dollars on this, not speculative global warming crap.
I saw a Falcon 9 launch on my evening commute a few weeks ago here in Jacksonville, Fl. That was pretty cool.
“Elon Musk: Say what you want about him but I believe he is a true genius on a par with E——n Nikola Tesla.”
I’m glad you corrected that.
Edison was a plodder and a thief. Most of the 2000 patents in his name were actually the work of others. He funded the work and when it was time for a patent only Edison’s name was on the patent.
Edison wanted to go with Direct Current which would have required a generation station every few blocks.
He also did everything he could to kill Tesla’s AC. He even had an elephant killed by AC to show it was dangerous.
If I were emperor the name Edison would be a footnote in history and everyone would know about Tesla.
The FAA is slow walking SpaceX approval to let NASA SLS go first.
Otherwise SLS will be obviously pointless before it ever flies. Instead of five minutes afterward. Ten minutes if SpaceX’s first attempt fails.
“...coming to a launch pad near you.”
Oh, like a ‘docking station’?
“first real step to being able to intercept and divert asteroids”
I am a bit skeptical about the feasibility of the “divert” part in the near term—but I agree it is worth seeking to develop the technology as best we can.
ATA?
If Starship proves as viable as Elon projects, a fully loaded flight full of wealthy space enthusiasts could watch the Artemis landing from the surface of the moon.
It is good to know I’m not alone.
If I were emperor the name Edison would be a footnote in history and everyone would know about Tesla.
—
And the man Tesla (and Einstein) owe everything they did to : James Clerk Maxwell.
p
They are lucky if they get to the building part of anything, or even the prototype testing part.
Mostly it is bureaucrats increasing bureaucracy hoping to expand bureaucracy requirements so they have to hire and get a promotion for being in charge of an office.
It now takes decades to do thing we used to do in years.
Well l was trying to be nice. But my first impulse was “space weener’.
I can bet the Gov would send them on this mission even with all these issues. All that mattered was the suit could hold enough pressure to not kill the occupant for probably 30 minutes.
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