SpaceX Sets Its Eyes on Mars
The private company owned by Elon Musk is planning to use Dragon 2 spacecraft to to help humans make first inroads on planet Mars and get them home safely. This spacecraft has successfully made several trips, back and forth, transporting humans to the International Space Station since 2012.
Dragon 2 is boosted by Falcon 9 rocket to launch its spacecraft into the ISS. It is important to note that Falcon 9 is reusable. Only last week, one Falcon 9 rocket made safe landing into a drone ship docked in the Atlantic Ocean, making it its third successful attempt.
It is no news that the experts and the scientists have been feverishly working on getting humans to Mars. However, the coveted Red Planet is much farther than the ISS. Needless to say, there are several other conditions that need to be taken into account before carrying out the mission.
According to a news article, the Dragon 2 spacecraft needs as many as three Falcon 9 boosters closely strapped to be able to land on Mars and also bring back the astronauts from the Red Planet, back to Earth. However, the main question is safe landing. Since the atmosphere on Mars is 1000 times thinner, parachutes are unusable in slowing it down enough for a safe landing. Moreover, the other factors such as intense heat and gravity that is 60% lower than Earth's makes matters worse.
But the company has so far been able to take one successful step at a time, gradually improving their Falcon Heavy which has power equivalent to three Falcon 9 boosters. It is also capable of sending as much as 30,000 lbs of payload into Mars. This technology is to be merged into Dragon 2 spacecraft to make it further advanced.
