"Livestream starting soon". Does anyone know what time they're starting? (And please use a numeric timezone, I'm not a walking timezone database.)
Finally introducing Musk at about 18.59 UTC (i.e. +00:00)
Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
81–90 of 1001 posts
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Throughout human history, there has always been a new/unexplored land to emigrate to for new opportunities or to escape political persecution. Nowdays there is nowhere left for someone in the West to emigrate to that is not substantially the same or worse. Mars and the stars could potentially offer that opportunity, which might be why some people are excited.
Why not the oceans? Much easier to populate than Mars.
You would enjoy this game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#83SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA
Unconventional design.
The rocket looks very large and they mention 120 million newtons takeoff thrust so the weight is about 10 million kg, 3 times Saturn V size.
The first stage lands back on launch stool, the tanker stage is put on top of it and it launches again. This implies a relatively fast turnaround.
Both the second stage and the tanker seem to have complete heat shields and stub wings and ability to re-enter either Mars or Earth.
So all parts
1) big
2) landable and
3) short turnaround time
I don't understand the 100 000 km/h which is 30 km/s speed for the Mars cruise. Would be really hard to achieve with chemical propulsion. With 4 km/s exhaust velocity and delta vee of say 20 km/s you get a required mass ratio of e^(20/4) which is 150. And they lug the upper stage engines all the way, and there's heatshield and wings. Impossible.
Also the 200 kW electrical power advertised is puny for electrical propulsion. With an ISP of 1000 (exhaust 10 km/s) you get an 20 Newtons of thrust [correction from 200N], which is nothing for their ship size. If they only have ten tons of mass, then it takes 200 days to accelerate to full speed.
Typically you might need 10 to 20 km/s speed for Mars.
Their plan does not compute for me.
EDIT: So it can work if they only go for 10 km/s.
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#84What are we going to do on Mars? Live in a plastic box? Send in a bunch of slaves to mine minerals in insufferable conditions? I don't get it.
Watch the end of the video. I think he intends to terraform it. Edit: looks like he's aiming for a city of 1m people in the short term, Terraforming in the long term.
We can't solve simplest problems on Earth (like re-capturing CO2 for example), but believe we'll be able to terraform a planet to which we haven't even been able to send a human yet?
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Watch the end of the video. I think he intends to terraform it. Edit: looks like he's aiming for a city of 1m people in the short term, Terraforming in the long term.
We can't solve simplest problems on Earth (like re-capturing CO2 for example), but believe we'll be able to terraform a planet to which we haven't even been able to send a human yet?
Given hundreds (or thousands) of years, yes.
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about going to a different planet makes you think we won't just be taking those same problems with us? The earth isn't the problem - The problem is the human brain. We aren't genetically capable of processing the world we have built. Expect there to be Trump IV vs Clinton IV 2117 hosted live on Mars if we haven't made significant improvements in human engineering.
>>The earth isn't the problem It is. If you are yet not convinced, you might want to take a look at how many species go extinct every day. There are a many threats to human existence beyond human behavior and preparing for them is a good move forward.
Or you know...discovered [1]
Also, show me the species on other planets. Far as we know there aren't any and none of the planets seem to be habitable. Stop living in fantasy land.
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding but you seem to be saying "Let's not be excited about colonizing another planet-- life will be just as depressing there."
That's actually not a bad way to put it! Think about it this way. What if there was an uninhabited island out in the Pacific that was hard to get to. What makes it worth trying to get to? There isn't anything any more special there than here. In fact from all we've seen so far it's much less special. Same goes for Mars. What is the value in being "multi-planetary?" I mean the idea that this is a hedge against some ex…
I bet the first people that landed on Hawaii were pretty excited about it.
The technical challenges on Mars will probably only compound the political problems. Double plus fun.
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#88What are we going to do on Mars? Live in a plastic box? Send in a bunch of slaves to mine minerals in insufferable conditions? I don't get it.
>What are we going to do on Mars?
Probably the same stuff we do on Earth? Also- sports would be pretty cool in low gravity (37% of Earth's gravity)
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
Doing what, blowing up rockets? Shipping goods to LEO like people have been doing for literally decades? Mars has no atmosphere. Who is going to solve that niggling issue to being a multiplanetary species? Who's even close? Musk is not "doing it".
1,258 people currently live at the McMurdo research station on the South Pole. The record high temperature there is still well below freezing. Humans would not be able to survive there _except_ we have invented ways of keeping them alive using housing and clothing technology.
Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about going to a different planet makes you think we won't just be taking those same problems with us? The earth isn't the problem - The problem is the human brain. We aren't genetically capable of processing the world we have built. Expect there to be Trump IV vs Clinton IV 2117 hosted live on Mars if we haven't made significant improvements in human engineering.
>>The earth isn't the problem It is. If you are yet not convinced, you might want to take a look at how many species go extinct every day. There are a many threats to human existence beyond human behavior and preparing for them is a good move forward.
Even from that point of view, Mars is even more hostile to life (as we know it) than Earth.