Revolutionary thinker and visionary Elon Musk has finally put his Mars colonization vision to paper, which we can all read it for free.
SpaceX’s billionaire founder and CEO just published the plan, which he unveiled at a conference in Mexico in September 2016, in the journal New Space.
Musk’s commentary, titled “Making Humanity a Multi-Planetary Species,” can be accessed here.
New Space Editor-in-Chief Scott Hubbard wrote the following statement pertaining to Musk’s Mars plans: “In my view, publishing this paper provides not only an opportunity for the spacefaring community to read the SpaceX vision in print… but also serves as a valuable reference for future studies and planning.”
Musk’s vision centers on a reusable rocket and spaceship combination that he’s dubbed the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS).
The ITS’ reusability is key to making Mars colonization affordable.
This reusability — combined with other measures, such as fueling the spaceships in Earth’s orbit and making propellant on Mars — could bring the price of a Red Planet trip down to approximately $200,000 per person, from an estimated $10 billion using conventional spaceflight systems.
The ITS spaceships could begin flying to Mars as early as 10 years from now if everything goes as planned.
The following are other innovations that will aid in making humanity an “interplanetary species” within the next decade…
Sleek New Spacesuits
They’re sleek, secure, and somewhat similar to the outfit worn by the white Power Ranger.
Musk shared the first picture of SpaceX’s spacesuit with the world a few weeks ago.
The Instagram post has been liked almost a quarter of a million times.
Musk, an avid space enthusiast who intends to send humans to Mars by 2022 at the very earliest, said that the picture wasn’t a mock-up but a photograph of the actual fully functioning suit.
Coming up with a redesign of the standard astronaut’s garb is a difficult and daunting task.
Designers of the spacesuit had to consider protection from the elements, such as the rough surface of Mars, while also allowing the flexibility of the people wearing them for conducting experiments or investigations during their space travels.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) unveiled its own line of spacesuits this past January, which are designed to be used by the astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS).
The Boeing suits weigh a mere 20 lb. and come with touchscreen-friendly gloves, among many other features, to make life as simple as possible for the astronauts.
It’s not clear yet how the SpaceX suits compare, but Musk says that more information and images are going to be revealed in the coming days.
Musk and privately held SpaceX are determined to make human space travel and space tourism a reality as soon as scientifically possible.
Of course, a mission to Mars by 2022 seems like an ambitious goal. But the deadline may have to be pushed back as the company deals with complications, like the explosion of a rocket on its Florida launchpad back in September 2016.
Before that setback, SpaceX planned to send people into orbit with its Dragon spacecraft and to send two tourists around the moon in 2018.
SpaceX, along with Boeing, was awarded a government contract to develop spacecraft for taking astronauts to the ISS this year, but it seems like that project has been delayed, too.
But regardless of the timeline, when SpaceX does end up taking people into space, it’s clear that Musk is keen for them to look good while they’re doing it.
In a 2015 Reddit AMA session, Musk explained how he and his company are focusing not only on the suit’s utility but also aesthetics: “It needs to both look like a 21st century spacesuit and work well.”
Although we don’t know much about the suit as of yet, the image released seems to show Musk keeping true to his word.
Transportation to Mars: The Falcon Heavy
A few days ago, SpaceX announced that it had completed the first stages of testing on the Falcon Heavy, its new heavy lift rocket.
In a tweet, the company confirmed this and published a video showing one test in progress.
The Falcon Heavy has been touted as the essential element of Musk’s ambitious plan to reuse rockets that can fly all the way to Mars.
According to the SpaceX website, the Falcon Heavy can carry up to 73,000 lb. of cargo and crew all the way to the Red Planet safely.
The Falcon Heavy is viewed as a considerable upgrade to the Falcon 9 rocket, which has made several trips to space since it first launched in 2012.
Musk announced in July that the company is working toward a November launch for the new rocket but also warned it had “a real good chance of failure.”
But everyone at SpaceX seems to be making light of their failures.
In a move unlikely to be replicated by its NASA counterparts, Musk announced on his Twitter that his firm will release a blooper reel of the SpaceX program’s failed attempts.
Since it’s expected for each endeavor to have its setbacks, SpaceX and its Falcon Heavy project have achieved unbelievable progress in its mission to take humankind to Mars.
According to the website, the Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.
The liftoff thrust of the Falcon Heavy equals approximately 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full power and is indeed the world’s most powerful rocket.
Space Computers
NASA and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE: HPE) have successfully sent a supercomputer into space, which many hope will be used on future missions to the Red Planet.
The Spaceborne Computer was originally launched on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
The Dragon landed at the ISS on August 16th when crew members used that station’s 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and secure the spacecraft.
Officials are hoping that the computer will work in the harsh conditions of space for one year — the amount of time it takes humans to travel to Mars.
It’s also going to be used to make the much-needed calculations needed for space research projects before colonization begins.
This will be vital for manned missions to Mars, as the distance between the two planets means that it will only take 20 minutes for communications to reach Earth.
HP’s spacefaring supercomputer has been ruggedized to withstand radiation, solar flares, subatomic particles, micrometeoroids, unstable electric power, and irregular cooling.
The Spaceborne Computer experiment will not only show us what needs to be done to advance computing in space, but it will also spark discoveries for how to improve high-performance computing on this planet and have the potential to create a ripple effect in other areas of technological innovation.
The Bottom Line
“When the United States successfully put two men on the moon, it captivated the world and inspired technological advancements from the microchip to memory foam,” said Alain Andreoli, senior vice president and general manager of HP Enterprise’s Data Center Infrastructure Group.
This mission to Mars is the next opportunity to propel technology into the next frontier.
This isn’t just a giant leap for SpaceX and the companies associated with the Mars mission; it’s a giant leap for humankind.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
John Peterson
Pro Trader Today