The last 3/4 of it.
I keep forgetting the return to Earth advantage of Equatorial launch.
Which is critical in terms of a city on Mars, but quite important before this.
And be quite important with space stations in LEO.
The communications bandwidth requirements to support a Martian city are going to be enormous. And will require a significant relay capability we have yet to establish. Oh and did I mention ground support?
How about ground water or a lake?
Mars city doesn’t need a river, but I think it needs
a lake.
Why do you think he founded Starlink? Sure, it’s a cash cow on Earth, and gives Falcon something to do, but ultimately it’s about Mars.
I don’t think that’s right. A parabolic dish on Mars next to the “city” will do the job. Otherwise, the “city” supports itself, as Musk has said. The idea that an actual self-supporting city on Mars will spring in existence on day one is FUD. My guess is, it will start as a small base with six crew, who’ll rotate out every two years. Later on, some will stay. It won’t be a Mars colony until someone is conceived, gestated, and born there. If I was younger, I’d hope for a retirement village.
Not given the bandwidths Musk talks about. He even admits it’s going to require lasers and co-orbital laser relay satellites when Earth and Mars are in superior conjunction.
Starlink’s newest sats use laser links between sats now. If that can be scaled up onto a satellite with solar cells powerful enough to act as a co-orbital Mars/Earth go between remains to be seen. Although I don’t expect the issue to be daunting beyond the power requirements for re-transmit.
Why does a martian settlement need “enormous” communication bandwidth (two-way with Earth, I suppose)? It would be nice but seems hardly necessary. Using teleoperated waldo robots on the Moon would seem a much more pressing need for “enormous bandwidth”…robots don’t need the consumables a human would.
Martian settlements require Venus orbit for transportation. It can also use Venus orbit as communication relay to Earth.
Making rocket fuel require a lot energy.
Venus orbit has the energy, it just needs the water.
The water can from from Earth, our Moon, or Mars- or where there is unlimited amounts of water, the rest our solar system.
So, Venus orbit can get water from Earth, right now, next it might get it from our Moon, and finally it might in the nearest time period, get it from Mars.
So in terms of next several decades, Venus orbit has competitive market for water. But all three, will lose
out to water from the rest of solar system.
[And when the starts, the Moon can import water from the rest of solar system- assuming the Moon doesn’t have trillions of tons of mineable water.]
For Mars to be habitable, it needs cheap water and to have cheap water it has to mine billions of tons of water per year.
Or it starts with mining millions of tons before there is a Mars settlement, the millions of tons of mined water make that region it’s mined, a site for a Mars settlement. Anyhow within decade and with people living there, it gets closer to mining billions of tons of water per year- and this water is still very expensive compared to Earth water, and around $1000 per ton {or less}. Within decades Mars water
could be as cheap as Earth water. But water at $1 per kg, is cheap enough to export to Venus orbit.
And it might take decades for Lunar water to become $10 per kg and decades to make cheap mass drivers.
Mars would also need to make mass drivers to export to Venus.
Though on Mars, you grow food, and want mass drivers to also export food to rest of solar system.
Whilst Starship is awaiting a launch license, the other five (so far) Elon and fed interactions listed in this scorecard to date.
Well obviously a self-sustaining city on Mars requires massive bandwidth to participate in social media. Otherwise it’s doomed. DOOMED, I TELL YOU!!!!!!
Unless Musk has figured out some useful way of superluminal signaling, I don’t see the point. And if he does, all bets are off. AnsibleX?
https://www.space.com/spacex-elon-musk-starship-update-iac-webcast
The last 3/4 of it.
I keep forgetting the return to Earth advantage of Equatorial launch.
Which is critical in terms of a city on Mars, but quite important before this.
And be quite important with space stations in LEO.
The communications bandwidth requirements to support a Martian city are going to be enormous. And will require a significant relay capability we have yet to establish. Oh and did I mention ground support?
How about ground water or a lake?
Mars city doesn’t need a river, but I think it needs
a lake.
Why do you think he founded Starlink? Sure, it’s a cash cow on Earth, and gives Falcon something to do, but ultimately it’s about Mars.
I don’t think that’s right. A parabolic dish on Mars next to the “city” will do the job. Otherwise, the “city” supports itself, as Musk has said. The idea that an actual self-supporting city on Mars will spring in existence on day one is FUD. My guess is, it will start as a small base with six crew, who’ll rotate out every two years. Later on, some will stay. It won’t be a Mars colony until someone is conceived, gestated, and born there. If I was younger, I’d hope for a retirement village.
Not given the bandwidths Musk talks about. He even admits it’s going to require lasers and co-orbital laser relay satellites when Earth and Mars are in superior conjunction.
Starlink’s newest sats use laser links between sats now. If that can be scaled up onto a satellite with solar cells powerful enough to act as a co-orbital Mars/Earth go between remains to be seen. Although I don’t expect the issue to be daunting beyond the power requirements for re-transmit.
Why does a martian settlement need “enormous” communication bandwidth (two-way with Earth, I suppose)? It would be nice but seems hardly necessary. Using teleoperated waldo robots on the Moon would seem a much more pressing need for “enormous bandwidth”…robots don’t need the consumables a human would.
Martian settlements require Venus orbit for transportation. It can also use Venus orbit as communication relay to Earth.
Making rocket fuel require a lot energy.
Venus orbit has the energy, it just needs the water.
The water can from from Earth, our Moon, or Mars- or where there is unlimited amounts of water, the rest our solar system.
So, Venus orbit can get water from Earth, right now, next it might get it from our Moon, and finally it might in the nearest time period, get it from Mars.
So in terms of next several decades, Venus orbit has competitive market for water. But all three, will lose
out to water from the rest of solar system.
[And when the starts, the Moon can import water from the rest of solar system- assuming the Moon doesn’t have trillions of tons of mineable water.]
For Mars to be habitable, it needs cheap water and to have cheap water it has to mine billions of tons of water per year.
Or it starts with mining millions of tons before there is a Mars settlement, the millions of tons of mined water make that region it’s mined, a site for a Mars settlement. Anyhow within decade and with people living there, it gets closer to mining billions of tons of water per year- and this water is still very expensive compared to Earth water, and around $1000 per ton {or less}. Within decades Mars water
could be as cheap as Earth water. But water at $1 per kg, is cheap enough to export to Venus orbit.
And it might take decades for Lunar water to become $10 per kg and decades to make cheap mass drivers.
Mars would also need to make mass drivers to export to Venus.
Though on Mars, you grow food, and want mass drivers to also export food to rest of solar system.
Whilst Starship is awaiting a launch license, the other five (so far) Elon and fed interactions listed in this scorecard to date.
Well obviously a self-sustaining city on Mars requires massive bandwidth to participate in social media. Otherwise it’s doomed. DOOMED, I TELL YOU!!!!!!
Unless Musk has figured out some useful way of superluminal signaling, I don’t see the point. And if he does, all bets are off. AnsibleX?