Maybe I am not reading this right. However, it seems he wants to put a Tesla Roadster in orbit of Mars? If so, that is a terrible idea. Our own planet has so much space junk floating around that it is becoming unmanageable and actually harming future launches. Why ruin the orbit of another planet? I certainly hope this car has some sort of de-orbiting mechanism.
Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
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Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given the lack of a powered descent mechanism I'm thinking it'll be more of a crater surrounded by bits of aluminum, plastic, and lithium. Personally I think it would be funnier to put a Tesla into an eccentric comet-like solar orbit. That way future generations could train their telescopes upon the return of the... car.
So much, this. I've also been imaging a Star Trek episode where the Enterprise encounters and picks up a Tesla from deep space. :D
I'm picturing Worf driving a Roadster around the cargo bay while Geordi and Miles wax poetic about ancient earth historical vehicles and how they use batteries.
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#23Anyone know what would be the oppprtubity cost they're foregoing of just putting fuel, oxygen up there? Would it be expensive to retrieve it in orbit?
You really, really don't want to put fuel and oxidizer where they don't belong. If you run fuel lines to the cargo compartment and something goes wrong with the mission halfway to Mars, it would be much more difficult to figure out whether the incident was caused by a fault in the rocket's design or by the one-off modifications.
I may be reading this wrong, but I thought he meant as spare resources for once we do get to Mars, not as extra fuel for the rocket itself.
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#24Fully charged and ready to drive upon arrival? :)
Unlikely to even arrive on mars, typically we need to make course adjustments en route and a car doesn't exactly have thrusters. Hence the comment in the tweet about being in deep space for a billion years or so.
At least it makes a tiny bit more sense than sending a car with an internal combustion engine to a planet with no oxygen in its atmosphere. It sends a very clear message: you're not gonna be driving that gas-guzzling SUV on Mars. Electric is the future.
The next mission might actually carry a Tesla rover to the surface. Then maybe a large battery-backed solar array so the rover doesn't need to worry about its energy budget anymore. The "silly" mission could even help Tesla/SpaceX gain important insights about how their batteries fare in space. Never underestimate Elon Musk, even when he seems to be having too much fun.
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given the lack of a powered descent mechanism I'm thinking it'll be more of a crater surrounded by bits of aluminum, plastic, and lithium. Personally I think it would be funnier to put a Tesla into an eccentric comet-like solar orbit. That way future generations could train their telescopes upon the return of the... car.
So much, this. I've also been imaging a Star Trek episode where the Enterprise encounters and picks up a Tesla from deep space. :D
Voyager found a Ford truck in space once. [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_37%27s_(episode)]
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#26Maybe I am not reading this right. However, it seems he wants to put a Tesla Roadster in orbit of Mars? If so, that is a terrible idea. Our own planet has so much space junk floating around that it is becoming unmanageable and actually harming future launches. Why ruin the orbit of another planet? I certainly hope this car has some sort of de-orbiting mechanism.
I think the idea is that they have to put something there as a test, before they can send things that really matter?
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#27Maybe I am not reading this right. However, it seems he wants to put a Tesla Roadster in orbit of Mars? If so, that is a terrible idea. Our own planet has so much space junk floating around that it is becoming unmanageable and actually harming future launches. Why ruin the orbit of another planet? I certainly hope this car has some sort of de-orbiting mechanism.
Space is big
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#28Fully charged and ready to drive upon arrival? :)
Unlikely to even arrive on mars, typically we need to make course adjustments en route and a car doesn't exactly have thrusters. Hence the comment in the tweet about being in deep space for a billion years or so.
Even if it gets to Mars there's no way to put it into orbit. It'll either hit the planet or go shooting past.
I guess in theory you could use aerocapture to avoid leaving if you aimed it just right, but without thrusters that would eventually mean hitting the planet.
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's way too risky for a brand-new rocket that might not even leave the atmosphere. All those children will be so disappointed if their time capsule blows up on the launch pad. A car, on the hand... they crash all the time anyway. No big deal.
Why? At this point anything you put in a time capsule is going to be digitally reproduced a million times over anyway. There's not a massive distance between "my poem is on a usb drive orbiting mars" and "my poem got blown up when the first SpaceX Falcon Heavy accidentally flew into the sun" they're both equally interesting stories to tell at dinner parties, which is their whole utility.
For engineer types like us, you're probably right. For other people, though, it's a lot more romantic and inspiring to have a physical piece of paper orbiting Mars than to have a USB drive blown to smithereens on the coast of Florida.
Re: Elon Musk: Falcon Heavy's first payload will be my Tesla Roadster to Mars
#30Maybe I am not reading this right. However, it seems he wants to put a Tesla Roadster in orbit of Mars? If so, that is a terrible idea. Our own planet has so much space junk floating around that it is becoming unmanageable and actually harming future launches. Why ruin the orbit of another planet? I certainly hope this car has some sort of de-orbiting mechanism.
I think the idea is that they have to put something there as a test, before they can send things that really matter?
maybe send something that's easier to sanitize of biological contaminants