Did Space X just show its secret plans for a mission to Mars?
Posted by Andrew on April 28th, 2011Space X released a video today showing their plans and capabilities for their Dragon space capsule. Besides the ability to ferry crew to and from orbit and to the International Space Station, Elon Musk, head of Space X has said that the capsule itself would be capable of using its built-in rockets to land on any solid planet, moon or asteroid in the Solar System. He described the heat shielding as being rated for “Martian and lunar” velocities.
Landing is one thing. What about a return trip, some have asked? If you look closely at the video Space X released you can get some idea of what they may have planned for a trip to Mars.
In the screen grab you can see the Dragon crew capsule in the foreground. In back of it looks like a crew habitat made from the stage of a rocket. Further in back you can see a platform with what looks like an ascent vehicle perched upright. This solves the ascent question.
Space X has talked publicly and informally about its plans for the future of space exploration. Besides the forthcoming Falcon 9 Heavy lift rocket, that would be the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V, they’ve also talked about a Falcon X Heavy and Falcon XX vehicles with 250,000 pounds of cargo capacity.
From the video it looks like we can see three of the four components you would need for a Mars round trip. The Dragon capsule as a lander for the astronauts. The crew habitat visible in the background and the ascent vehicle on a platform further out. Not shown is the space vehicle that would be used to bring astronauts from Earth orbit to Martian orbit.
If you look at Space X’s plans for future rocket engine technology, there are plans for motors that would be more than capable of the return trip. The one thing we haven’t seen is what their plans are for the spacecraft itself. It’d be curious to see what Elon Musk and Space X think this would look like. Let’s hop for more videos.
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April 28th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
No one can accuse Mr. Musk of dreaming small! Maybe that’s what the space biz needs right now!
April 29th, 2011 at 12:49 am
Higher resolution screenshot here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=24179.msg730446#msg730446
April 29th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
This video features a CGI representation of a capsule landing on Mars and two dudes high fiving. My love for SpaceX knows no bounds.
May 1st, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Everything other than the Dragon is part of NASA’s DRM 5.0, the models seem to be taken from http://www.frassanito.com/work/animations/Mars/Mars.html, about 80% of the way in is the same scene from a different viewpoint.
May 25th, 2011 at 11:56 am
I’ve been hopping for like an hour now and no new videos……
June 9th, 2011 at 1:02 am
Count spacex out, a group of pirate misfits, they have displayed a pirate flag in the office at pad-40, the management team has no honor no integrity and dislikes anyone from NASA. This band of misfits cuts corners on safety to save money, they do no live up to NASA standards, and truly will not hire NASA people.