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Re:Elon Musk provides new details on his ‘mind blowing’ miss... by lmm on Saturday June 11, 2016 @10:20AM (#11883527)
Dragon doesn't have enough delta-V to land on the moon. The plan for a Mars landing is to use it as a lifting body to keep it above the ground for long enough to shed most of its velocity.
Re:Elon Musk provides new details on his ‘mind blowing’ miss... by dalke on Saturday June 11, 2016 @11:10AM (#11883696)
I've read various statements which say that Dragon can land on the Moon, such as http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mars-ahead-spacex-unvei... :

> Musk has said a fully loaded Dragon could even be sent to make a touchdown on the moon or Mars

or https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/04/spacex-debut-red-dra... :

> “With Dragon launched on a Falcon Heavy, it can go pretty much anywhere in the solar system, because that’s a heck of a big rocket,” he continued.

> “Dragon, with the heat shield, parachutes and propulsive landing capability, is able to land on a planet that has higher entry heating, like Mars. It can also land on the Moon, or potentially conduct a Europa mission.”

How does that fit with the statement "Dragon doesn't have enough delta-V to land on the moon"?

Re:Elon Musk provides new details on his ‘mind blowing’ miss... by exDM69 on Saturday June 11, 2016 @10:24AM (#11883542)
Yes, GP said that already but I'm after the numbers here. How much delta-v the Dragon has? And what are the approximate requirements for Moon vs. Mars landing?
Re:Elon Musk provides new details on his ‘mind blowing’ miss... by Symmetry on Saturday June 11, 2016 @10:50AM (#11883619)
The Dragon 2 has about 1.6 km/s. Apollo had 2.47 km/s to land and 2.22 km/s to take off. Oh, and it would take on the order of 4.5 km/s to take off from Mars and maybe a few hundred to land.
Re:Elon Musk provides new details on his ‘mind blowing’ miss... by exDM69 on Saturday June 11, 2016 @11:56AM (#11883898)
Thanks! These numbers look reasonable to me. Can you provide a link to source (s)? I'd like to read some more...