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Elon Musk to announce SpaceX's Mars colonization plans at IAC on Tuesday (Sept. 27)

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C

Crispy75

Member
Hyllian said:
I don't know which is bigger: Elon Musk or his ambitions.


2024! Right!?
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That's 8 years away. 8 years ago, SpaceX had only just managed to achieve orbit. It was 8 years between Kennedy telling NASA to go to the moon and Apollo 11. A lot can happen in 8 years...

EDIT: Wow, Falcon 1 flight 4 was actually 8 years ago yesterday :)
 
F

F!ReW!Re

Member
Crispy75 said:
That's 8 years away. 8 years ago, SpaceX had only just managed to achieve orbit. It was 8 years between Kennedy telling NASA to go to the moon and Apollo 11. A lot can happen in 8 years...
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I'm really excited to see what's gonna happen and though I'm not sure if they'll make that date, I'm sure we've got exciting times ahead.
Think for a lot of people it just sounds so incredible/far fetched that it's hard to believe such a thing to be possible, that's why a lot of people are going: "yeah right"...
 
J

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Jack Scofield said:
Whenever I hear about planetary colonization I always think about how cool it would be. But then I think of the logistics and day to day life and realize that it would suck. You're completely cut off from nearly EVERYTHING. You can't run to the store to buy ingredients for your favorite dinner, you can't travel, you can't even go outside.

I couldn't do it.
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If it could be done like in Elysium it might work. The early stages might suck but eventually it could be like Earth 2.0
 
S

soxinthebox

Member
Would landing on another planet with a long term goal of terraforming at least part of it be ethical? I saw a story on Reddit today about areas humans shouldn't go on Mars incase we ruin potential indigenous life but without terraforming people would be stuck inside a relatively small area forever - is that the plan?
 
V

Violet_0

Banned
soxinthebox said:
Would landing on another planet with a long term goal of terraforming at least part of it be ethical? I saw a story on Reddit today about areas humans shouldn't go on Mars incase we ruin potential indigenous life but without terraforming people would be stuck inside a relatively small area forever - is that the plan?
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so far, we have no evidence of life ever existing on Mars. The planet is vital for the survival of the human race (heck, all life on Earth or even the entire galaxy) and for spreading out to new planets and system eventually, and to give it all up just because of the off-chance that there might be life on Mars (which is highly unlikely) is honestly rather insane

we can be reasonably sure that Mars is and always has been a dead rock floating in space, of course we're going to terraform it asap
 
C

Crispy75

Member
soxinthebox said:
Would landing on another planet with a long term goal of terraforming at least part of it be ethical? I saw a story on Reddit today about areas humans shouldn't go on Mars incase we ruin potential indigenous life but without terraforming people would be stuck inside a relatively small area forever - is that the plan?
Click to expand...

This is going to be a big issue (and it ends up being the major political split in the Mars Trilogy books mentioned earlier). Currently, anything landing on Mars has to be painstakingly sterilised.
 
H

hoola

Neo Member
I envision a Bioshock Rapture-like facility in the distant future. Fully enclosed and mostly self sustaining in terms of governance. I wonder how many people it would take to have an actual sustainable society. How long will it be before the first 7-11 opens on Mars? It probably depends on if there are any usable resources that can be mined.

Look forward to watching.
 
I

iamblades

Member
killer rin said:
This image is awesome, Any idea if there is a larger scale version that shows all the major bodies in the solar system?
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Found this:

SqdzxzF.png


And a bunch of kerble space program maps, lol.

Them Jupiter Delta V's tho.
 
C

Crispy75

Member
hoola said:
I envision a Bioshock Rapture-like facility in the distant future. Fully enclosed and mostly self sustaining in terms of governance. I wonder how many people it would take to have an actual sustainable society. How long will it be before the first 7-11 opens on Mars? It probably depends on if there are any usable resources that can be mined.

Look forward to watching.
Click to expand...

Musk has previously said he thinks one million people is enough to sustain human civilization.
 
O

Ozium

Member
Jack Scofield said:
Whenever I hear about planetary colonization I always think about how cool it would be. But then I think of the logistics and day to day life and realize that it would suck. You're completely cut off from nearly EVERYTHING. You can't run to the store to buy ingredients for your favorite dinner, you can't travel, you can't even go outside.

I couldn't do it.
Click to expand...

this is why you take lots of psychoactive substances like in my PKD novels fam
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
I never investigated much, but I wonder why nobody focuses on building underground cave system for early explorers? Sure it's not an easy task, but that gives us great protection against radiation and an ability to expand living/working quarters as much as it is needed.
 
G

Galava

Member
SpecX said:
Seriously, what did NASA find on the moon that makes everyone avoid it? Wouldn't it make sense to start with there first and then expand?
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Nothing. But one day we can use the moon as a fueling station of Helium-3 for fusion nuclear reactors that can power ships, but gotta build factories/mining/stuff there.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Well he's ambitious I guess, but Mars colonization seems like a seriously far-fetched prospect to me.
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
DieH@rd said:
I never investigated much, but I wonder why nobody focuses on building underground cave system for early explorers? Sure it's not an easy task, but that gives us great protection against radiation and an ability to expand living/working quarters as much as it is needed.
Click to expand...

The gravity is so low that you can haul matter much more easily on top of dwellings for shielding than you can on Earth. We could make bricks right on the surface. Second, there are pre-existing lava tubes. Finding a suitable one to wall off would be dificult but take a lot less energy. Another problem with lava tubes is structural integrity, how do you make sure it's safe once you pressurise it?

We can do the math pretty quick once we have made the first brick. That's why I think having an automated factory poop bricks is better first, even if we get no "free" volume. First settlements are gonna be tight.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
Melon Husk said:
The gravity is so low that you can haul matter much more easily on top of dwellings for shielding than you can on Earth. We could make bricks right on the surface. Second, there are pre-existing lava tubes. Finding a suitable one to wall off would be dificult but take a lot less energy. Another problem with lava tubes is structural integrity, how do you make sure it's safe once you pressurise it?

We can do the math pretty quick once we have made the first brick. That's why I think having an automated factory poop bricks is better first, even if we get no "free" volume.
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Your username is tripping me out.

Is that you, Elon?
 
G

gutshot

Member
DoctorWho said:
Your username is tripping me out.

Is that you, Elon?
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You think Elon Musk, who is about to go on stage and give a presentation that could literally change the course of human history, would be posting on GAF just minutes before?

Actually, that sounds exactly like something Elon Musk would do. Hmmm...
 
T

therealist

Member
Musk seems like a guy with a lot of money who gets bored quickly. Focus on getting one thing right. Don't spread yourself too thin working on multiple large undertakings at once. He can't possibly get accomplished everything he has set out to do.
 
D

DeadlyParasite

Member
Can you imagine the insanity if this thing actually manages to successfully land on Mars? The only stopping us at that point is manpower, dedication, the sheer will to become the masters of our own solar system.

I'm curious, what's stopping them from adding more modules to the spacecraft before sending it off to Mars? It seems like such a small thing to be sending. You'd think you'd want to load this thing up with as much supplies, tech, and habitats before heading out.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
SpecX said:
Seriously, what did NASA find on the moon that makes everyone avoid it? Wouldn't it make sense to start with there first and then expand?
Click to expand...

Congress avoids anything that would require enough funding to support manned mission operations. Our only hope is in private ventures.
 
Tal Shiar Agent

Tal Shiar Agent

Member
I'd like to know how any permanent colony would be governed. Would it be American territory? Would it be a new nation? Would it be administered by an international advisory board?

How long is the communication lag between Earth and Mars? 30 minutes right?
 
E

ElFly

Member
SG-17 said:
I'd like to know how any permanent colony would be governed. Would it be American territory? Would it be a new nation? Would it be administered by an international advisory board?

How long is the communication lag between Earth and Mars? 30 minutes right?
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I assume that, as long as it claimed to be a colony from an american company, it'd be subject to international space treaties governing america

but if it went independent...well they would only be subjected to themselves and to whoever other country who could reach Mars
 
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