Elon Musk says SpaceX's new spaceship could go 'well beyond Mars'

"Mars Colonial Transporter" seems like a pretty cool name for a spaceship, but it wasn't quite ambitious enough for SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.

"Turns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name," the billionaire entrepreneur said Friday via his Twitter account, @elonmusk, referring to the spaceflight system that SpaceX is building to colonize the Red Planet.

Some of Musk's 5.24 million Twitter followers took up the challenge and offered their own suggestions, including "Indestructible II," "Millenium," "Booster McBoosterface" and "Heart of Gold." [SpaceX's Red DragonMars Mission in Images]

This last offering was also the name of a ship in Douglas Adams' iconic sci-fi novel "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which is apparently close to Musk's heart.

Full story here:www.foxnews.com...

That would be cool to see happen, but at the same time, we can't even take care of our own planet we are on.
But on the good side, aliens would find us fairly easy with all the junk we leave between these planets.

a reply to: darkuniverse

One has to wonder as to the population system this craft will employ if indeed it's capable of going well beyond Mars.

First they need to iron some kinks with the launches... then make some simple trips to the moon. Oh, we're not welcome there? Mars it is then.

No it won't. It will blow up on the launch pad like all their other rockets.

Not if the last one was anything to go by

This despicable character is nothing more than a self promoter and a con artist. No respectable national space agency would green light such a flawed vehicle. Cost cutting measures meant shortcuts were taken and if anyone was on board they'd have died from his self-promoting corporate negligence.

a reply to: peskyhumans

No it won't. It will blow up on the launch pad like all their other rockets.

What?
en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: darkuniverse

Ridiculous wishful thinking.

Astrophysicists tell us it would take thousands of years to terraform and transform a planet. And even then, could we even accommodate the very different conditions of Mars - given its distance from the Sun and lack of a convective core (i.e. magma) - wouldn't it be liable to losing its atmosphere? So, I don't think there's any viable way of changing this: its an astronomical reality - we are too small to change that.

This wishful thinking about turning an entirely uninhabitable region of space into a habitable one - even as we engage in processes that damage a planet perfectly situated to create and maintain a meaningful reality - Earth - speaks to the mental illness of our present day culture.

Titan as well, btw. This moon is nowhere close to being able to accommodate human existence, yet we hear of "possible habitation" of it. How? Our very body's are made out of Earth chemistry. Titan is basically as frighteningly monstrous as the ancient Greek creatures it was named after. Turning this planet into something feasible seems even less possible than with mars - smaller body, i.e. inability to keep its atmosphere at any level beyond the coldness that keeps its atmosphere going.

I have to go with Phage on this one...

...What?


So far, they've got an outstanding safety record, and are the only name in reusable boosters. If you missed the memo, that's the only chance our species has of getting off of this rock before we destroy it.

We will see if the aliens and tptb allow him to go there.

If suddenly he calls off all ambitions to go there then we can guess what happened.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: darkuniverse

One has to wonder as to the population system this craft will employ if indeed it's capable of going well beyond Mars.

I assume you meant to write "propulsion system." At least that was my first thought in going to the link (which isn't worth much more in data).

Where would that ship go beyond Mars and how? To mine the asteroid belt? Stopping at Mars first or straight shot? Or to some other planet--every one unhospitable to humans? One type of ship almost self-sustaining? I don't buy it. 'Talking through his hat?

Maybe he has access to secret technologies? The introduction of exotic technologies long held by secret government programs (triangles) can be somewhat safely introduced to the world by supposedly independent entrepreneurial R&D means. Not that that is the actual chain of events, merely the cover to get them out into commercial use.

His remarks are telling, similar to those of Ben Rich of Lockheed's Skunk Works fame when he stated near his death that we had the means to reach the stars. I think I'll look into his stocks.

originally posted by: nOraKat
We will see if the aliens and tptb allow him to go there.

The guy is a multi-billionaire, he's probably in bed with tptb.

As for the aliens.. we will only know after the first trip to Mars.

Elon Musk says SpaceX's new spaceship could go 'well beyond Mars'

Yeah, if it experiences cosmic forces beyond all comprehension and consequently frozen in temperatures beyond imagination, thus inevitably blowing it out of its planned trajectory, into an orbit one thousand times more vast.

Yeah...ok...whatever you say Elon..
You've done a great job with the "smart" cars....I mean, yeah, the cars are killing people but this is space...it's so much easier

And sure NASA landed on the moon but did they legalize marrying 6 year olds???
Nope...

Keep up the great work liberals...

a reply to: ShadowChatter

You know a lot about it, do you?

a reply to: andy06shake
I'm thinking maybe a ION drive system.

a reply to: darkuniverse

Nope. Not constant thrust.
www.popsci.com...

Methane for fuel? Any methane beyond Mars?

a reply to: Phage
Yea, that's true, its probably some propulsion system sitting in area 51, we ain't seen it yet.

What we need to do, get hold of these people:
www.google.com...://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Weyland-Yutani&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjDm4qh9aHPAhUK1mMKHS3jCK0QFggNMAE&sig2=1U9NmI49Xmvzz5thOtHyaQ&usg =AFQjCNFpqtyUejwHskU4patDKykiCpwUWA

They will have the propulsion systems and the atmospheric processors......

My nephew works for Elon. My sister watches all the launches. I think they have a pretty good record so far. There are occasional failures to be expected. Nasa has them too. My nephew does not work on the propulsion systems . He works on the upper stage. He is inside it for 12 hours a day. Tedius work

We are not going to have colonies anywhere anytime soon. Nobody is living on Mars for another 100 years or more. Complete fantasy. Do it on the moon first then we will see.