Tuesday, September 27, 2016

SpaceX Officially Unveils Its Plans for Mars (and Beyond)...



Earlier today, SpaceX founder Elon Musk revealed the vehicle that his company will develop as it sets its sight on Mars. Known as the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), this mega-rocket is designed to ferry a large capsule carrying at least 100 people to the Red Planet and beyond. Musk targets the mid-2020s as the timetable during which he plans to send humans to Mars...which would be at least 10 years faster than the date that NASA is eyeing to send crews to the Red Planet via Orion and the Space Launch System. But Musk isn't just settling for Mars; the ITS is intended to ferry homo sapiens even deeper into space—as shown with the illustrations below.

It will be a historic day when, not if, SpaceX's "Mars Vehicle" becomes a reality.

An artist's concept of a woman staring out a window aboard the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) towards Mars.
SpaceX

A schematic depicting the mega-rocket and spacecraft that comprise the ITS.
SpaceX

An infographic comparing the size of the ITS to NASA's Saturn V rocket.
SpaceX

A full-size replica of a fuel tank for the ITS.
SpaceX

An artist's concept of the ITS spacecraft orbiting Jupiter.
SpaceX

An artist's concept of the ITS spacecraft on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.
SpaceX

An artist's concept of the ITS spacecraft floating above Saturn's rings.
SpaceX

An artist's concept of the ITS spacecraft on the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
SpaceX
Posted by Richard Par at 11:09 PM
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