Man has never seemed smaller, or greater than he did during a spacewalk
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Mars, Mars
After two years, SpaceX held a press conference this morning Beijing time to once again introduce the latest progress of the starship, the strongest rocket in human history. Musk, a newly promoted member of the National Academy of Engineering, gave a speech in a black trench coat and answered media questions.
The atmosphere was warm. Musk's every "Let's make it real" was applauded. However, as far as the content is concerned, in general, there is not much new and effective information. Regarding the first flight of the starship that people are most concerned about, Musk did not specify the specific time, only saying that the FAA may approve in March, and it is believed that the flight will be completed within this year.
In 2016, when Musk first talked about "multi-planetary species" and starship design, he said that the first unmanned Flight to Mars would be launched in 2022, with the first people heading to Mars departing in 2024. In September 2019, the starship's first orbital test flight was announced that it would be completed in 6 months. At present, musk's previous goals are too optimistic. Let's take a look at the main points of the conference at the Texas Starship Base.
▲The scene of the press conference (Source: SpaceX)
1. Multiple planets and Earth are important
Musk reiterated the need for humans to become a multi-planetary species — which is also a big reason why SpaceX developed the starship. "In the long run, it is very important and necessary for us to become a multi-planetary species that ultimately even transcends the solar system."
Musk talked about the U.S. government's spending in the space sector. In 2020, only 0.36% of the government budget will be spent on space exploration. "I think more than 99% of the resources should be used to solve the problems on the planet ... However, maybe 0.5% (for spaceflight) is OK. ”
2) Mars is going to be another Earth
"One day, we can turn Mars into a planet like Earth." Musk believes the starship has the ability to build a self-sufficient city on Mars — which would require transporting 1 million tons of supplies from Earth. He urged humanity to act quickly, "For the first time in Earth's 4.5 billion-year history, it is possible to achieve this goal... Frankly, the current (Earth) civilization is a bit fragile. ”
▲ Starship flight and Martian city in the promotional video
(Source: SpaceX)
3. Rapid reuse as core competitiveness
At the heart of a starship is the ability to reuse quickly. Calculated from the start of returning to Earth, the superweight booster can complete the return in 6 minutes, refill within 30 minutes, and be ready to launch again about an hour after the first launch.
The way Musk hopes to achieve quick reuse is to use a "chopstick" robotic arm. The starship will take off from the launch tower and return for quick refurbishment and flight again. "We obviously need to make that happen, and we haven't done it yet."
▲ It is this pair of big "chopsticks" (Source: SpaceX)
4, three days can build a spaceship
Musk announced the production capacity and mission indicators of future starships: by the end of this year, a superweight rocket and a starship spacecraft will be produced every month, and eventually 3 days will be produced; 3 spacecraft can be launched every day, so as to maintain human habitat on Mars. "For whatever reason, if a spaceship on Earth stops flying, the (Martian) city will die."
Musk estimates that the launch cost of a starship could be less than $10 million, and as the frequency of flights increases, it could fall to several million, or even a million dollars.
5, small factories to create the largest heat shield
"This is the largest heat shield in the world." Musk noted that the starship's heat shield was made in a small factory in Florida called Bakery. "We need heat shields that can withstand extremely high temperatures and are not ridiculously expensive." That has been achieved, he said.
▲ May make people with dense phobia uncomfortable
Starship heat shield (Source: SpaceX)
6, Raptor II engine thrust increased by 25%
The second-generation Raptor engine was boosted from 185 tons of thrust to 230 tons, and Musk said its thrust could eventually reach 250 tons. The simplified design of the second generation of raptors is more slender, compact and powerful, and will soon reach a capacity of one per day, and the cost will be cut in half compared to the first generation. Regarding its development progress, Musk said that the only challenge at present is the melting of the combustion chamber, but this problem is very close to being solved.
▲ Two generations of Raptor engine (Source: Everydayastronaut)
7, from the earth to the alien planet do not worry about customers
The starship already has a commercial customer— Japan's regal is scheduled to fly around the moon for the DearMoon mission in 2023. Musk said the starship will also perform starlink launches and NASA's manned spaceflight missions, but there is no clear mission time. "In the future (we) will announce something that makes people very excited... There are a lot of other customers who want to use Starship, but I don't want to steal their limelight, they'll announce it themselves. ”
Musk also highlighted the starship's ability to transport people and cargo point-to-point around the globe. "When the plane first appeared, it was treated as a toy. When the Wright brothers first flew their planes, most were still on horseback; they wouldn't have imagined that there would be thousands of planes flying to every corner of the world. ”
8. When exactly does it fly?
The first orbital flight of the starship is close to being ready, and the current obstacles are mainly environmental assessments. This is no small matter. SpaceX plans to launch dozens of launches a year at the Boca Chica starship base, potentially causing permanent changes to the area and raising concerns among many local residents about occupying public beaches.
Asked about the time of the first flight, Musk said he didn't know much about the FAA EIA, "The general message we got was that it might be approved in March, and that's all we know." He later added that he was very confident of getting the starship into orbit before the end of the year. If the FAA were to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the Texas starship base, the mission would be transferred to the starship launch pad under construction at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
▲ Starship spacecraft and superweight booster parameters
Reference Articles:
1、Austin DeSisto，Elon Musk’s Starship Update – February 2022，
https://everydayastronaut.com/elon-musks-starship-update-february-2022/
2、Kenneth Chang，What Elon Musk Did and Didn’t Reveal About SpaceX’s Starship Rocket，https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/science/elon-musk-starship-rocket.html
3、Elon Musk:Starship rocket close to going orbital，
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60340092
4、Jackson Ryan，SpaceX Starship event: Elon Musk talks Mars missions and more in megarocket update，
https://www.cnet.com/news-live/spacex-starship-event-elon-musk-talks-mars-missions-and-more-in-megarocket-update/
5、Mike Wall，SpaceX's Starship will reach orbit this year on road to Mars, Elon Musk says，
https://www.space.com/elon-musk-spacex-starship-update-orbital-launch-2022
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