What Elon Musk wants you to know

On the contrary, it was how much it resembles spaceships of our imagination.

Landed vertically with three large fins, the BFR, like the rocket has been dubbed, looks like so many fin ships that land on distant planets in old sci-fi movies. 2001: A Space Odyssey "or even in real life, as the lunar lander who delivered Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969.

It turns out that Musk, the billionaire who is the CEO of the rocket manufacturer, as well as Tesla, the maker of electric cars, said that the looks had played a role, not only functional, in the design.

"There is more than one way to solve this problem," he said.

He said the three wings of the new design serve to control the rocket and its landing gear. The design is "slightly more risky" than the previous one, which included six feet. In both cases, two of the three fins can steer the rocket.

The fundamental appearance of the rocket was only a surprise. Here are others:

• It's big. At 387.1 feet, it will be larger than the Saturn V rocket that propelled the Apollo missions to the moon. It will also be larger than the Statue of Liberty. It is designed to carry more than 220 tons on Mars.

• It's expensive. But until now, the costs do not seem unmanageable. According to Mr Musk, the development of the BFR currently represents about 5% of the rocket manufacturer's resources, but the program will become more expensive. He said that the BFR should cost about $ 5 billion to develop – not less than $ 2 billion, but not more than $ 10 billion. The Japanese billionaire who expects to be the first paying passenger for a flight around the moon in 2023, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, has already made a down payment. He did not say how much.

"BFR financing is a key issue and we need to look for all possible means of financing," said Musk.

TO CLOSE

You are cordially invited to the moon in 2023! Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, has unveiled plans to fly over the moon in VR. We explain how he will do it and how you can participate in the launch.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI

• BFR can go anywhere. Must say that he is considering the BFR not just to go on the moon, nor even on Mars. Once on Mars, with refueling, he said he could go anywhere in the solar system.

Indeed, Mr. Musk stated that SpaceX's goal was "to help advance rocket technology to the point where we could potentially become a multi-planetary species", which could become a necessity because of the threat of nuclear war, disease or other disasters. if not erase the humans on earth.

With "supply depots" on distant planets or their moons, BFR can roam the solar system, he added.

• It is versatile. The rocket is designed to be able to land on planets with atmospheres or not at all. To land in planets where there is atmosphere, he uses "his whole body to brake, then falls like a paratrooper," said Musk. Then he stands up and lands vertically on his three legs, as did SpaceX to bring his thrusters on Falcon 9 missions.

• it is spacious At a height of 1,100 square feet inside the spacecraft portion, Musk said he could imagine having both private rooms and group areas on a flight. a week or several months. Musk said it was designed to hold up to 100 emigrants from Mars. But flying around the moon, it will carry around a dozen people, including a group of artists and writers that Maezawa said he intended to bring.

• This happens sooner than you would have thought. The plans include a series of tests, followed by anonymous missions, followed by an anonymous mission around the world. The target date for sending around the moon with people on board is 2023, but Musk said it was a date that could slip.

• Different launch sites are planned. The spacecraft portion will be tested at a launch facility near Brownsville, along the Texas coast. In other tests, the ship could be launched from a barge. It will not land on the moon initially. Maezawa's trip will take place instead. Musk said that the route was not decided. He could zoom near the surface of the moon, and then go farther in an elliptical route.

• Oy, this name. BFR is supposed to be Big Falcon Rocket, a nod to the battlehorse of the SpaceX fleet, the Falcon 9 that propels the satellites into orbit. But the BFR designation may not stick. "We should probably think of another name," said Musk.

He said that he was thinking of something more romantic, especially for the spaceship part of the craft. Like the heart of gold, the spaceship in the "Guide to the Hitchhiker of the Galaxy", by Douglas Adams.

Read or share this story: https://usat.ly/2xGDGTC