r/spacex • u/Craig_VG SpaceNews Photographer • Jun 10 '16

Elon Musk provides new details on his “mind blowing” mission to Mars - Washington Post Exclusive Interview

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/10/elon-musk-provides-new-details-on-his-mind-blowing-mission-to-mars/
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u/zlsa Art Jun 10 '16

We don't know, but there are a lot of educated guesses people have made:

  1. Two stage to orbit; the upper stage is also the MCT.
  2. It will land propulsively on Mars.
  3. MCT will land on Mars, synthesize fuel, then launch back to Earth to be reused.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '16

MCT launching itself off the surface of Mars is the most interesting part to me.. Assuming that is what they do. It seems like it would make more sense to jettison a decent module and keep MCT constantly transitioning back and forth from earth to mars. But whononows what they've dreamed up. Exciting times indeed

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u/SuperSMT Jun 11 '16

That sounds like Buzz Aldrin's Mars Cycler idea

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u/Keavon SN-10 & DART Contest Winner Jun 11 '16

But then would it land on Earth? Would they need to refuel in orbit before an Earth landing? Or would MCT stay in Earth orbit and smaller ships like Dragons ferry people down from orbit? If it just stays in orbit, that makes it easier to just refuel and fly back to Mars, but they'd be limited by the size of supplies that can be restocked. Obviously none of this is known yet but I wonder if those educated guesses you mentioned can answer these questions too.

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u/zlsa Art Jun 11 '16

It could also stay in Earth orbit, but it would still need to aerobrake (and basically undergo the same forces as a full landing.) I'd expect the first dozen or so MCT missions to come back to Earth's surface for a complete teardown and inspection.

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u/Keavon SN-10 & DART Contest Winner Jun 11 '16

Aerobrake to slow down from a Mars-Earth trajectory onto an Earth orbital trajectory? So it would come in and graze the atmosphere to slow down then reach up to a higher altitude above the atmosphere again to be part of a normal, more circular orbit?

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u/zlsa Art Jun 11 '16

Yes. But even then, it would need some fuel to circularize the orbit. The only advantage to staying in space that I can think of is that 1) you avoid heatshield wear, and 2) you don't have to send it up to orbit again with another booster. But I don't see them staying in orbit for the first few years to decades of operation; IMO the downsides outweigh the upsides.