2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
SpaceX has revealed new details of a manned mission to Mars, according to Buisness Insider Nordic. Paul Wooster, chief engineer of the Martian project, spoke at a conference of the Martian Society about the plans for the first two missions and possible landing regions.
Elon Musk has repeatedly announced his intentions to colonize Mars. He plans to send the first cargoes to its surface as early as 2022. For this, the super-heavy reusable BFR launch vehicle, which SpaceX is currently working on, will be used. The first construction team, according to Musk's plans, will reach the Red Planet two years later to begin construction of the Martian city. For this, it is planned to launch four BFR launch vehicles at once - two cargo and two with astronauts.
Worcester said that the first SpaceX ships will be engaged in reconnaissance of the terrain and prepare the infrastructure for the future station. Subsequent missions will focus on preparing the conditions for the future colony. In particular, the first astronauts to land on Mars will be engaged in the work necessary to ensure the extraction of fuel, as well as the expansion of the settlement. The primary goal will be to find and extract water ice that can be used to produce fuel - methane - in reaction with carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Every cargo ship sent to the Red Planet will carry at least 100 tons of payload. This is 100 times the mass of the Curiosity rover. Manned ships sent to Mars are likely to serve as living quarters for the first colonizers. Worcester noted that the conditions on them may not be the most comfortable, but this will reduce the complexity of the mission at the initial stage.
At the moment, SpaceX has chosen four possible landing areas for its ships - in the presentation, Worcester showed a map that highlighted the Utopia Plain, Arcadia Plain, Deuteronilus Mensae region and Phlegra Mountains. These places can have cold enough weather to allow subsurface ice reserves to exist and sunny enough to charge solar panels. At the moment, the company is trying to determine the best candidate with the help of scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Worcester noted that SpaceX is not yet sure how to build landing sites on Mars to ensure safer arrivals for future missions. In addition, a separate item is the question of a spacesuit that can be used to work on the surface of the planet.
In the future, the first colonialists will face many difficulties. Long-term flights in interplanetary space can have serious consequences for human health, which you can read about in our material "Radiation and Courage".
