SpaceX Aims To Put Man On Mars In 10-20 Years 271
An anonymous reader writes "SpaceX hopes to put an astronaut on Mars within 10 to 20 years. From the article: '"We'll probably put a first man in space in about three years," Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal Saturday. "We're going all the way to Mars, I think... best case 10 years, worst case 15 to 20 years."'"
Dear Elon (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you for having the vision, the money, and the balls to do these great things.
Regards,
Geeks everywhere.
Re:Funding... (Score:5, Insightful)
The previous generation of space contractors is focused around government jobs. This has created a broad patchwork of subcontractors that is organized to be in as many congressional districts as possible. All these layers create "profit stack-up" that bloats the price of a vehicle.
SpaceX is vertically integrated, which means that they don't have to pay as many subcontractors, which drives down the price. We'll see if they can withstand the assault from the entrenched players.
Helium 3 and location (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, is there really anything worth it in the moon?
There's a low-gravity, no-atmosphere location from where it's possible to launch missions to anywhere in the solar system much cheaper than from the earth.
There's local supply of building materials, ample material for shielding against radiation, and things don't need to be so flimsy and fragile as something that's built in orbit.
Besides, there's the possibility of mining Helium 3, which has been assumed to be one of the possible means to obtain nuclear fusion power.
I can't see what would be the reason, either technical or financial, to go to Mars before building a permanent moon base.