Tag: Red Dragon
-
Dragon receives long-planned propulsive landing upgrade after years of development
SpaceX announced a new capability for the Dragon spacecraft on Sept. 27 in the unlikely event of a parachute failure. Dragon now has built-in redundancy to propulsively land using its SuperDraco thrusters, saving the vehicle and potential crew from a rough landing or imminent danger. SpaceX introduced the concept of a propulsive landing Dragon over…
-
Elon Musk is bullish on Dragon space rides, but Red Dragon on Mars? Not so much
Artwork shows a Red Dragon capsule firing its thrusters for a Mars landing. (SpaceX Illustration) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he expects to see astronauts flying to the International Space Station on his company’s Dragon capsules by mid-2018 – but is downplaying a technology that would have opened the way for robotic “Red Dragon” missions to…
-
Propulsive landings nixed from SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Red Dragon spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsules will not return astronauts to Earth for powered landings as originally envisioned, company boss Elon Musk said Wednesday, a design change that raises questions about the space transport firm’s plans to send commercial landers to the surface of Mars. Musk cited safety…
-
Arcadia on the map: For future Mars landing sites, SpaceX thinks ice is nice
SpaceX’s current favorite place to land on Mars is reportedly Arcadia Planitia, which combines flat terrain, potential deposits of water ice and an equatorial region well-suited for solar power. According to Space News, that’s the word from SpaceX’s Paul Wooster, who’s working with NASA to identify potential landing sites for the privately held company’s Red Dragon…
-
Technical issue forces SpaceX to put its first liftoff from historic Pad 39A on hold
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 sits on Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A. (NASA via YouTube) SpaceX postponed the first launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center since the last shuttle flight in 2011, due to concerns about a control system on the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage. The Falcon 9 had been due to loft a robotic Dragon…
-
NASA to have limited role in SpaceX’s planned Mars campaign
Artist’s concept of a Dragon spacecraft at Mars. Credit: SpaceX Expertise, input and advice from seasoned NASA engineers will improve SpaceX’s chances of nailing the first commercial landing on Mars as soon as late 2018, a senior space agency official said Wednesday, but Elon Musk’s space transport company will likely seek more independence from U.S.…
-
NASA to have limited role in SpaceX’s planned Mars campaign
Artist’s concept of a Dragon spacecraft at Mars. Credit: SpaceX Expertise, input and advice from seasoned NASA engineers will improve SpaceX’s chances of nailing the first commercial landing on Mars as soon as late 2018, a senior space agency official said Wednesday, but Elon Musk’s space transport company will likely seek more independence from U.S.…
-
NASA spells out support for SpaceX’s Red Dragon Mars mission
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Red Dragon spacecraft entering the Martian atmosphere. Credit: SpaceX If SpaceX is able to dispatch a robotic Dragon capsule to land on the red planet in 2018 on time and successfully, engineers stand to get a lesson on what it will take to eventually send humans there, capturing key data on…
-
SpaceX’s Elon Musk teases ‘dangerous’ plan to colonize Mars starting in 2024
An animation shows a lander separating from the rest of the Mars Colonial Transporter. Later concepts suggest that the entire MCT would land as a unit. (Credit: Michel Lamontagne / ESA via YouTube) SpaceX’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, is providing increasingly detailed previews of his plan to send colonists to Mars starting in 2024, more…
-
Elon Musk hopes SpaceX will send humans to Mars in 2024
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Red Dragon capsule on Mars. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s plan to send a Dragon capsule to Mars in 2018 will be the first in a sequence of unmanned commercial missions to the rust-colored world before the first voyage with humans as soon as 2024, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Wednesday. The company…