Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System

Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ... by Teever on Friday October 21, 2016 @10:54PM (#12766852)

You need to transport a seed factory.[1] The clever thing about the Mars Colonial Transport is that it includes solar panels to generate electricity as well as the machinery needed to produce methane and oxygen which serves as fuel for a return voyage.

The really cool thing about this is that methane can be used as a feedstock to produce many plastics and the oxygen can be used for humans to breathe.

The MCT is a prototype for a seed factory style Von Neumann probe.

[1] https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Seed_Factories

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Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ... by elsonrodriguez on Saturday October 22, 2016 @04:20AM (#12767786)

I'm skeptical about how feasible it is to send enough solar panels to Mars in order to power a base.

Everyone's keeping quiet about the inevitable role of RTGs or fission reactors in early human Mars exploration.

Solar will come either via an abundance of payloads delivered to Mars as things ramp up, or via panels produced on Mars itself.

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Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ... by Teever on Saturday October 22, 2016 @08:32PM (#12771260)

Musk briefly commented on nuclear during the MCT announcement. He said it was ultimately dependent on environmentalists on Earth allowing it.

Other viable methods for power generation that are amenable to in-situ production include geothermal heat loops and solar concentrators.

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