Will SpaceX vehicles orbit Mars before they enter the atmosphere?
$begingroup$
When SpaceX starts sending vehicles to Mars, how will they handle landing on Mars?
Will the Starship (Upper Stage, transit vehicle) slow down enough to capture into orbit of Mars before entering the atmosphere?
Or will they do a direct entry, using the atmosphere to slow down instead of using propulsive capture into orbit?
spacex mars reentry atmosphere spacex-starship
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
When SpaceX starts sending vehicles to Mars, how will they handle landing on Mars?
Will the Starship (Upper Stage, transit vehicle) slow down enough to capture into orbit of Mars before entering the atmosphere?
Or will they do a direct entry, using the atmosphere to slow down instead of using propulsive capture into orbit?
spacex mars reentry atmosphere spacex-starship
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
When SpaceX starts sending vehicles to Mars, how will they handle landing on Mars?
Will the Starship (Upper Stage, transit vehicle) slow down enough to capture into orbit of Mars before entering the atmosphere?
Or will they do a direct entry, using the atmosphere to slow down instead of using propulsive capture into orbit?
spacex mars reentry atmosphere spacex-starship
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
$endgroup$
When SpaceX starts sending vehicles to Mars, how will they handle landing on Mars?
Will the Starship (Upper Stage, transit vehicle) slow down enough to capture into orbit of Mars before entering the atmosphere?
Or will they do a direct entry, using the atmosphere to slow down instead of using propulsive capture into orbit?
spacex mars reentry atmosphere spacex-starship
spacex mars reentry atmosphere spacex-starship
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
edited Feb 13 at 20:10
geoffc
55.6k10162310
55.6k10162310
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
asked Feb 13 at 18:41
zabopzabop
1874
1874
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Capturing into Mars orbit would consume a fair amount of fuel.
You can see this with Mars probes. They usually do one of three things.
- Propulsive capture into orbit
- Minimal propulsive capture, but aero breaking for the rest.
- Direct descent, no real breaking into orbit.
Every pound of fuel carried to Mars means lifting it from Earth, so minimizing fuel use is important.
SpaceX has discussed how they will enter the atmosphere and use it to kill speed/energy.
At the moment it is not known if they will do ANY kind of propulsive movement before entering the atmosphere, but the main plan appears to be direct descent and using the atmosphere to break before a propulsive landing at the very end.
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
$endgroup$
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
add a comment |
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Capturing into Mars orbit would consume a fair amount of fuel.
You can see this with Mars probes. They usually do one of three things.
- Propulsive capture into orbit
- Minimal propulsive capture, but aero breaking for the rest.
- Direct descent, no real breaking into orbit.
Every pound of fuel carried to Mars means lifting it from Earth, so minimizing fuel use is important.
SpaceX has discussed how they will enter the atmosphere and use it to kill speed/energy.
At the moment it is not known if they will do ANY kind of propulsive movement before entering the atmosphere, but the main plan appears to be direct descent and using the atmosphere to break before a propulsive landing at the very end.
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
$endgroup$
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Capturing into Mars orbit would consume a fair amount of fuel.
You can see this with Mars probes. They usually do one of three things.
- Propulsive capture into orbit
- Minimal propulsive capture, but aero breaking for the rest.
- Direct descent, no real breaking into orbit.
Every pound of fuel carried to Mars means lifting it from Earth, so minimizing fuel use is important.
SpaceX has discussed how they will enter the atmosphere and use it to kill speed/energy.
At the moment it is not known if they will do ANY kind of propulsive movement before entering the atmosphere, but the main plan appears to be direct descent and using the atmosphere to break before a propulsive landing at the very end.
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
$endgroup$
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Capturing into Mars orbit would consume a fair amount of fuel.
You can see this with Mars probes. They usually do one of three things.
- Propulsive capture into orbit
- Minimal propulsive capture, but aero breaking for the rest.
- Direct descent, no real breaking into orbit.
Every pound of fuel carried to Mars means lifting it from Earth, so minimizing fuel use is important.
SpaceX has discussed how they will enter the atmosphere and use it to kill speed/energy.
At the moment it is not known if they will do ANY kind of propulsive movement before entering the atmosphere, but the main plan appears to be direct descent and using the atmosphere to break before a propulsive landing at the very end.
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
$endgroup$
Capturing into Mars orbit would consume a fair amount of fuel.
You can see this with Mars probes. They usually do one of three things.
- Propulsive capture into orbit
- Minimal propulsive capture, but aero breaking for the rest.
- Direct descent, no real breaking into orbit.
Every pound of fuel carried to Mars means lifting it from Earth, so minimizing fuel use is important.
SpaceX has discussed how they will enter the atmosphere and use it to kill speed/energy.
At the moment it is not known if they will do ANY kind of propulsive movement before entering the atmosphere, but the main plan appears to be direct descent and using the atmosphere to break before a propulsive landing at the very end.
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
answered Feb 13 at 20:13
geoffcgeoffc
55.6k10162310
55.6k10162310
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
add a comment |
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
9
9
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
$begingroup$
Well, the plan is to use the atmosphere to brake. They'd prefer to avoid breaking at any point, it's expensive and tends to upset people.
$endgroup$
– Christopher James Huff
Feb 13 at 22:48
3
3
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
$begingroup$
You can capture into orbit with very little fuel consumption if you aim really really carefully at the atmosphere.
$endgroup$
– Sean
Feb 13 at 23:44
add a comment |
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