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SpaceX's giant BFR rocket has a sleek new look for a daring private passenger flight around the moon. If a quick result is needed, the BFR will have wild fins.
Late last night (September 13th), SpaceX announced the signing of an agreement to launch a private flight around the moon with its new BFR megacenter in the future. Details are scarce – SpaceX will unveil more on Monday (Sept. 17) during a live webcast – but the private spaceflight company unveiled the concept of a new BFR rocket artist around the moon. [The BFR in Images: SpaceX’s Giant Spaceship for Mars & Beyond]
Does this new BFR art look like science fiction? Yes. But is this really a new version of the SpaceX BFR? Also, apparently, yes.
Yes
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 14, 2018
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested Thursday night as well. When asked if the rendering of the SpaceX artist was a new version of BFR, he answered with a simple "yes".
Taken literally, the new BFR art suggests that SpaceX made some slight modifications to the huge crewed spaceship.
First of all, there is evidence. Take a look at these great fins!
SpaceX has signed with the world's first private passenger to ride the moon aboard our BFR launcher – an important step towards the access of ordinary people who dream of traveling in space. Discover who is flying and why on Monday, September 17th. pic.twitter.com/64z4rygYhk
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2018
The new rendering shows the BFR spacecraft with three large flippers, giving it a vaguely-like shuttle-like profile. There is also a hint of a darker heat shield along its belly, but again, it's not clear. The two elements would depart from the earlier designs presented by Musk at the meetings of the International Astronautical Congress in 2016 and 2017. (It was at the 2017 meeting that the spacecraft was named BFR by Musk. In two cases, the BFR spacecraft had only the slightest trace of two fins, swept far behind.
Then there are the engines.
The new rendering shows the spacecraft equipped with 7 BFR engines (presumably the new SpaceX Raptors) circling the moon. Musk's presentation in 2017 showed a BFR spacecraft with 6 Raptor engines in total, 2 of which were sea level engines and 4 others intended to be used in a space vacuum. Thus, the rendering suggests the new BFR version with 7 engines capable of shooting in a vacuum.
But what about the recall? The previous BFR designs presented by Musk in 2016 and 2017 have used a reusable massive booster to launch the crewed spacecraft into orbit, and then return to Earth for later reuse, such as the SpaceX Falcon 9 first floors used today. hui.
In 2016, this BFR booster was gigantic – 40 feet wide (12 meters) and powered by 42 Raptor engines. In 2017, SpaceX had a little reduced its potential. In this new design, the thruster was 30 feet (9 m) and powered by 31 Raptor engines.
By comparison, the first floor of SpaceX's Falcon 9 combat rocket is 12 feet wide and is powered by 9 of the company's Merlin engines. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket includes two Falcon 9 first stages around a base booster, each using 9 Merlin engines, for a total of 27 engines in total.
But has the new thruster of the BFR spacecraft changed since last year? It is not clear and it will be necessary to wait until Monday to know it.
As a reminder, the BFR system of SpaceX (the name can also mean the Big F ****** NSFW Rocket) as defined by Musk in 2017 was defined as follows:
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A fully reusable two-stage system with a spacecraft and crewed propeller.
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Together, the propeller and the spacecraft would reach a height of 106 meters (348 feet);
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The crew spacecraft of BFR would have a height of 157.5 feet (48 m);
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The crewed spacecraft would include 40 cabins and would likely carry up to 100 passengers for trips to Mars;
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The crewed spacecraft would be capable of supersonic RE landing, just like the current Falcon 9 rockets;
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The BFR will be able to launch 150 tons in low Earth orbit, which would make it more powerful than NASA's Saturn V lunar rocket;
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The BFR is designed to promote the colonization of Mars, but could fly from one point to another around the Earth, to the Moon and other parts of the solar system.
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The first tests of unmanned spacecraft could begin in 2019, with a possible flight to Mars in 2022 and a crewed flight in 2024.
We will have to wait for SpaceX's big revelation on Monday to find out how much of BFR's design has really changed.
And then there is the mysterious question: who is the private passenger of SpaceX for the BFR flight around the moon? In February 2017, Musk announced that SpaceX would fly two passengers on a private trip around the moon using its Falcon Heavy rocket and Dragon spacecraft. But earlier this year, Musk said that the Falcon Heavy would not fly crewed Dragon flights, and that SpaceX was turning instead to its BFR development for travel in the great outdoors.
Musk published a piece of choice as a possible clue: Thursday late in the day, he posted on Twitter a Japanese flag emoji in response to a question about who was driving the mission. (The real ironic question asked if Musk was the passenger. The billionaire did not approach it directly.)
So, what do you think of SpaceX's BFR lunar flight plan? We'll know more on Monday when Musk unveils new details in a webcast at 9pm. EDT (0100 GMT 18 September). You can watch the webcast of SpaceX's moon live here, courtesy of SpaceX.
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him @ tariqjmalik. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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