Refueling the spaceship from the fuel tanker [Concept Art]
Source - www.theverge.com
full reusability of the space crafts, the ability to refuel in the orbit, the
propellant production on Mars and usage of the right propellant is
deemed to drop the cost to USD 200 000, which is the average cost of
a house in the United States. The current plan is to host 100 people in
the spaceship and eventually expand it up to 200 people. Out of the
three fueling options of Kerosene, Hydrogen / Oxygen and Methane,
Methane is identified as the feasible option and the propellant depot
will produce the required Methane from the surface of Mars. And the
spaceship is equipped with an array of solar panels which can produce
up to 200kW of energy when deployed.
WHAT DID MUSK MISS
Even though the hour-long presentation portrayed the feasibility of
interplanetary travel, it left out many details which are vital for the
success of the whole concept. Musk himself said “Are you prepared to
die? If that’s okay, then you’re a candidate for the journey”, about
the first person who will be making this leap of faith. Hence comes to
light the obstacles which are in its way for initiating this huge venture.
The solar radiation is one of the biggest issues with the inter-
planetary travel. Even though Musk neglected this as a small issue
which will not cause a significant impact, people are questioning the
possibility of causing cancer and other health issues with the expo-
sure. Further, the plans for the survival on the red planet, with food,
health and other life support would be a challenge of its own and ini-
Falcon 9 Lift off
Source -www.spacex.com
tiating and research into these areas would
cost far more than the transportation sys-
tem itself. To protect the inhabitants, Musk
suggested a magnetic force field to deflect
high-energy particles and the solar radia-
tion. However, further details of this system
were not provided and they left a doubt in
minds of the interested parties.
Spaceship after Deploying the Solar Panel Array [Concept Art]
Source - www.theverge.com
6
University of Peradeniya Gauge Magazine
The spaceship which is expected to be
called “Heart of Gold”, was inspired by
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and it is
deemed to adhere to the planetary pro-
tection rules enforced by NASA to keep
the interplanetary contaminations at bay.
However, populating Mars alone will break
this rule, which raises many more questions.