Base Alpha

louis · 2019-11-03 07:21:03

Were people aware that Musk is referring to Space X's planned first human settlement on Mars as Base Alpha ?

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/ … paceflight

No doubt the name will change at some point to something less prosaic. But I like that he has given it a name. Base Alpha might have its first Starships in five years' time.

tahanson43206 · 2019-11-03 09:48:24

For Louis re #1 ...

Good catch, and best wishes for success with this new topic.

It looks promising, with the caveat that (as you point out) the name may change, but (hopefully) that will be years out, AFTER humans have set up shop there.

Meanwhile, Sagan City (2018) beckons to those with a longer term vision.

(th)

louis · 2019-11-03 16:53:37

Space X illustration showing "Base Alpha". If anyone has the wherewithal to show it in the thread, please do!

SpaceX%2BStarship%2Blaunching%2Bfrom%2BMars%2BBase%2BAlpha_humanMars.net.jpg

Nice pic but the family hanging around in the Spaceport Lounge is pure fantasy!

SpaceNut · 2019-11-03 17:08:55

That is a far off future year....

Form the other topics link on water.

To tally: Arcadia Planitia offers (somewhat) warmer summers and winters due to its latitude, augmented by a low relative altitude that insulates the region from weather extremes and enables more efficient propulsive spacecraft landings.
However, perhaps more important than any of the above features is the fact that Arcadia Planitia is host to a vast wealth of water ice resources, ranging from frozen aquifers to glaciers in the adjacent Erebus Montes mountains. Of central importance to SpaceX’s strategy of affordably colonizing and exploring Mars is the decision to produce return propellant – needed for Starships to return to Earth – on Mars, known as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Starship’s use of methane and oxygen is almost entirely a result of this – methane is far easier to work with than hydrogen and can also be easily produced from water, as can oxygen.
The cleaner and more accessible the Martian water ice is, the easier it will be for SpaceX robots or astronauts to set up a propellant plant on Mars. Additionally, clean water is extremely expensive to transport in space, and a near-infinite supply of ice-derived water would be extremely useful for all sorts of human outpost needs.

Of course this is one of the heal topics to success, clean obtainable water, easy to process and low energy needed to acquire it.

GW Johnson · 2019-11-03 17:29:53

They have to be able to land without sinking into the surface. To return at all, they have to be able to (at least) quintuple the weight without sinking into the surface. If they sink in, it will be unevenly (Murphy's Law), and it will lead to AT LEAST a hold-down "tent stake" friction force preventing takeoff, and AT MOST topple-over and explosion while refueling.

The great bulk of Mars is similar to Earthly "fine, loose sand", as best we know. That has an allowable surface bearing strength of only 0.1 MPa, until on-site test data show different. Deal with THAT!

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2019-11-03 17:31:16)

louis · 2019-11-03 17:49:27

I am not claiming specialist knowledge but there are many, many ways that geologists can identify firm flat rocky areas. Boulders for instance will sink in to sand partially but not into firm rock. Recent meteorite impacts can tell you a lot. Obviously all the geological observations are tallied with the radar reflection info, and the chemical signature info.

There is no way Space X are going to be landing on sand!

GW Johnson wrote:

They have to be able to land without sinking into the surface. To return at all, they have to be able to (at least) quintuple the weight without sinking into the surface. If they sink in, it will be unevenly (Murphy's Law), and it will lead to AT LEAST a hold-down "tent stake" friction force preventing takeoff, and AT MOST topple-over and explosion while refueling.
The great bulk of Mars is similar to Earthly "fine, loose sand", as best we know. That has an allowable surface bearing strength of only 0.1 MPa, until on-site test data show different. Deal with THAT!
GW

Mars_B4_Moon · 2024-03-30 14:01:47

Apollo 9’s Rusty Schweickart On Mars, Elon Musk, Space Tourism, More
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2 … rism-more/

Clash: How does SpaceX’s Elon Musk fit in?
Schweickart: You can’t talk about any of this without taking into account Musk and his idea of sending large crews to Mars, even at first. It is significantly different from what anyone else is thinking now. Sending a crew of two, three or four is a very serious sociological, psychological challenge. Having more people involved in a Mars mission may be important. I have no doubt that we will end up there, but how and when we do is yet to be determined. And that’s a good thing

Delays trigger concerns about NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon ahead of China

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artem … 0-minutes/

China’s Space Strategy Dwarfs U.S. Ambitions
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techl … ons-209959

One near-Earth possibility are the stable Earth–Moon Lagrange points L4 and L5, at which a space station colony can float indefinitely, it might be a spinning artificial gravity station. L5 Society merged with the National Space Institute to form the National Space Society, the original L5 Society was founded to promote settlement by building space stations at these points. Gerard K. O'Neill suggested in 1974 that the L5 point, in particular, could fit several thousands of floating colonies.

Research bases, Colonization Outpost Stations

Four Things We’ve Learned About NASA’s Planned Base Camp on the Moon
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science- … 180980589/
Eventually the station will allow astronauts to spend up to two months on the lunar surface

Everything NASA is taking to the moon before colonizing Mars
https://www.engadget.com/nasa-artemis-p … 13129.html
The Artemis missions will spend the rest of the decade setting up humanity's first extraterrestrial outpost.

China plans to inhabit a space station on the moon by 2030
https://www.earth.com/news/china-plans- … n-by-2030/

China, despite its late entry into the realm of space exploration, has recently unveiled an ambitious vision that could potentially make it the first nation to establish a lunar base on the moon.
With aspirations of putting Chinese astronauts on the moon’s surface within the next seven years, Beijing may even outpace the United States in creating a permanent lunar outpost.
NASA has disclosed plans for its own Artemis Base Camp, aiming for establishment in the 2030s. This timeline sets up the tantalizing prospect of an intense 21st-century space race between the two countries. Wu Weiren, the physicist leading China’s moon mission, shared with state media that Beijing’s goal is to build a lunar research station before the end of the decade.
“By 2030, the footprints of the Chinese people will be left on the moon,” said Weiren. “There’s no question about it.”

It's possible in a future Robots or Cyborgs or Humanoid Robots or AI Diggers would first build towns offworld and have them ready for people arriving without risk to human life, for long-term sustainability of a colony, they need to make their own air, make water, have farms and chemicals and industry and computer manufacturing, a sucessful colony should be close to self-sufficient, making your own foods and medical supply and mining and refining materials on-site

NASA has copied or been inspired by other Analogue ideas amd studied colony simulations and crew dynamics such as morale, stress management
https://www.space.com/28714-mock-mars-m … iseas.html

Foreward to A Pioneer’s Guide to Living on the Moon
https://lunacitypress.org/pioneersguide … /foreward/

Jean-Marc Salotti made a calculation saying the minimum number of people to be sucessful on a new planet and build a sucessful colony will be a 110 person crew.

There are many proposals for building colony ships, habitats on Mars, human missions famously known as the Mars Direct and the Semi-Direct concepts, advocated by Robert Zubrin, an advocate of the colonization of Mars

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2024-03-30 14:06:30)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2019-11-03 07:21:03

Base Alpha

#2 2019-11-03 09:48:24

Re: Base Alpha

#3 2019-11-03 16:53:37

Re: Base Alpha

#4 2019-11-03 17:08:55

Re: Base Alpha

#5 2019-11-03 17:29:53

Re: Base Alpha

#6 2019-11-03 17:49:27

Re: Base Alpha

#7 2024-03-30 14:01:47

Re: Base Alpha

Board footer