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SpaceX unveils Mars city plan, will fly two cargo missions by 2022
SpaceX hopes to land at least two cargo missions to Mars a mere five years from now. The aerospace company's chief, Elon Musk, discussed its plans at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Australia. He talked about how SpaceX intends to use the BFR, the massive rocket it's developing, to fly Martian settlers to their new home and to take people anywhere on Earth in under an hour. In addition to landing two cargo missions on the red planet by 2022, it hopes to be able to confirm sources of water and potential hazards by that time. SpaceX also plans to start building mining, power and life support infrastructure that year to prepare for the first settlers that could arrive as soon as 2024.
Elon Musk proposes using SpaceX's 'BFR' to travel around Earth
A rocket built for traveling throughout our solar system could revolutionize travel on Earth, according to Elon Musk. Using a "BFR" flying at a max speed of 18,000 mph, he says we could fly anywhere on Earth in under an hour. Musk revealed the plan during tonight's speech at the 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide, Australia, where he also showed SpaceX's plans for lunar and Mars missions. These "Earth to Earth" trips could make "most" long journeys in under half an hour and, according to Musk, have a cost per seat that is "about the same as full fare economy in an aircraft."
Watch Elon Musk reveal 'something special' during Mars talk tonight
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he "Will be announcing something really special at today's talk" and you can watch the live stream on YouTube. Musk is speaking at the 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide, Australia, where he's going to explain more about his plans to make humanity multi-planetary by colonizing Mars. He recently highlighted an old SpaceX simulation of how its rockets in an Instagram post, and has been posting glamour shots of spacesuits all over social media. The talk kicks off local time Friday at 2:30 PM, or 12:30 AM ET / 9:30 PM PT. Update: Musk just posted this image to Instagram, showing a "Moon Base Alpha" concept, then followed it up with an image of "Mars City." Notably, it's appearing a day after Russia and US space agencies announced plans to team up on an effort, and of course, earlier this year SpaceX said it would send two people on a trip around the moon in late 2018. Surely we'll find out more about more about this plan in just a few hours.
SpaceX is sending two private citizens around the moon in 2018
It's been a long time since humans orbited the moon -- but Elon Musk's SpaceX is going to try and change that next year. The company just announced that two private citizens approached SpaceX about a trip to the moon for late 2018. The two potential space travelers have already paid a "significant" deposit and SpaceX expects health and fitness tests along with initial training to take place this year. There's no word on how much the travelers will pay, nor who the two individuals are, just yet, but SpaceX also says that other flight teams are interested in similar trips -- if this first voyage works, we could see a whole sequence of trips around the moon in the near future.
Moonbase Alpha takes NASA where it's never gone before: the Unreal Engine (video)
Using video games to trick kids into learning is nothing new, and now NASA is getting into the action with something called Moonbase Alpha. Not to be confused with the fictional moonbase from Space: 1999, this is the first of the space agency's two commercial releases based on the Unreal Engine 3. In the multiplayer game you assume the role of an astronaut assigned to the aforementioned moonbase. When life-support systems are damaged by a meteorite, you and your teammates must repair the damage before the Space Vampires steal your soul you all die due to lack of oxygen (and so on, and so forth). Available now for free from Steam. Trailer after the break. [Thanks, Andrew]
