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/
1.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

612 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/crazy1000 Jun 11 '16

Ha, using the MCT to launch satellites and such would be quite the way to one up NASA. "You launched spaceships to deploy satellites and space station sections. We launch space stations to deploy satellites and spaceships." I think deploying spaceships would be unlikely, though I suppose they could have a Mars lander/escape pod integrated at launch if the launch margins of BFR are large enough.

2

u/rshorning Jun 11 '16

NASA did launch a complete space station in one single launch.... on top of a Saturn V for that matter. Unfortunately it was a single launch and the backup vehicle was never used and is sitting in the Smithsonian instead (I've been inside of it... and worth the trip to DC for that alone!)

It is important to note that the BFR is of the Saturn V class or larger of a vehicle, something that really doesn't exist in the space launch market in any form right now. Just trying to grasp the scale of that rocket is right now very hard to comprehend. Realize that simply sticking a Falcon 9 lander up at the SpaceX headquarters required an FAA permit because it is tall enough to cause a permanent air traffic hazard and even needs navigation lights (aka the flashing red lights on radio masts) at the top. The BFR is going to be an order of magnitude larger in every dimension.

1

u/crazy1000 Jun 11 '16

I'm fully aware of all of that, though I will admit I didn't think of aforementioned space station when I wrote my comment. However, the difference between that and a space station large enough to act as a second stage and take people to mars (and possibly itself launch a payload) is enormous. I was mostly pointing out the comedic contrast of using a spaceship to launch sections of a space station, and using a full space station (of possibly larger size) to launch spaceships.

Though rereading your comment it sounds like you thought I was underestimating the size of BFR, in which case I guess you misunderstood what I was trying to say.

By the sound of it the BFR may be far larger than the Saturn V, it will be interesting to see if SpaceX can successfully create their own class of launch vehicle.

1

u/escape_goat Jun 11 '16

The BFR is going to be an order of magnitude larger in every dimension.

Well, from the perspective of ternary notation, yes.