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A comment on SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year. Parent comment

Re:SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond ... by ashark on Monday February 27, 2017 @05:01PM (#13748714)
Have they said they'll test Martian equipment with Lunar landings? I'd guess it'd make a pretty poor testing ground, considering the cost of getting there.
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Re:SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond ... by arijun on Monday February 27, 2017 @05:06PM (#13748774)
Lunar landing is harder in many ways than a Martian landing. Without an atmosphere, you cannot aerobrake.
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Re:SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond ... by jacquesm on Monday February 27, 2017 @05:32PM (#13749062)
That's a coin with a flipside though: you also don't need much in terms of heatshields so in that sense it is easier than on Mars.

A Mars landing needs both heatshields (because it does have an atmosphere) and retro-rockets to land with (because that atmosphere is not so dense that you can use it for gliding).

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