MUSK’S TRAVEL REVOLUTION
SPACEX CEO Elon Musk has revealed plans to create a cheap way to travel to the moon, Mars or around the Earth, cutting most longdistance flights.
He plans to use a rocket bigger than an A380 plane to send 100 people at a time, with two or three people per cabin, to Mars.
Ultimately, he hopes to create a sustainable population of about a million.
Mr Musk said his company SpaceX had begun serious work on the BFR (Big F---king Rocket) as he plans an Interplanetary Transport System.
He is trying to drive down the cost by reusing parts and improving technology. But he also says he has an idea on how to pay for it all. And it can be as cheap as a plane ticket for a seat in economy.
In Adelaide for the recent International Astronautical Congress, he talked about humans “becoming a multiplanet species”.
He has previously written that history shows eventually we will meet a doomsday scenario that will wipe us out, but today he said it was more aspirational.
“I can’t think of anything more exciting than being out there among the stars,” he said.
He also said a lunar base was past due.
“It’s 2017. We should have a lunar base by now. What the hell is going on?”
Mr Musk talked about the key technical capabilities SpaceX has been working on, such as the spaceship materials and how to land perfectly on the moon or Mars. He first revealed his plans to go to Mars last year.
“We want the landing risk to be as close to zero as possible,” he said.
Mr Musk says SpaceX can launch two cargo missions by 2022; the estimate has previously been about a decade for the first Mars mission.
Four more – including two manned trips – will follow two years later.
“That’s not a typo. It is aspirational,” he said. “We can be ready for a launch in about five years.”
His Falcon Heavy – otherwise known as “BFR” – is essentially several strengthened Falcon 9 launchers strapped to a vehicle capable of carrying 150 tonnes of cargo into low Earth orbit.
“Hopefully toward the end of this year we’ll be launching Falcon Heavy,” he said.
The payload section is capable of being reconfigured to contain 40 cabins, providing a capability of carrying 100 people to Mars each trip.
Mr Musk explained the ship would have redundant engine capacity to enable it to safely land on Mars if one failed.