Falcon Heavy Demo Mission: NET early 2018 :Updates/Relevant Discussion

[AncientU]

2018 and SpaceX is launching to Mars. 
Wish it was a Dragon, though.

[matthewkantar]

Elon said "Mars orbit", which is quite confusing. But he also said it's going to stay in the deep space for years, I think it leaves us with two options left. Actual orbit around Mars does not seem plausible, with transfer window a few months away and most probably no motor to perform braking maneuver.

The first option is that it may be something like a Hohmann transfer orbit with an apogee at the Mars orbit (they would go to the Mars orbit then, to some extent), but with the planet in the other place at the same time.

The second option is just a Mars flyby, far enough from the planet to make sure the payload won't smash into the surface. I guess that Roadster is not going to have any trajectory correction thrusters, so I don't they they would risk going too close.

Considering the cost of something space-navigation-propulsion-worthy of braking over a ton to Mars orbit after many months, I'm pretty sure "Mars orbit" in this case means "an orbit around the Sun that touches Mars orbit at one end, Earth orbit at the other". Might target for a Mars flyby, might not. Launch date would imply probably not, at least not a very close one.

They have had a long time to work on this and have plenty of spare parts to play with. A Super Draco has the in space endurance and performance to brake into orbit. There are probably test articles aplenty. A weldment to attach to the car's chassis, some solar panels, precise location of the COG, etc. I think SpaceX could cobble something up in a month or so. No big deal if it does not work, right?

Still a completely inane idea.

Matthew

[AncientU]

Elon said "Mars orbit", which is quite confusing. But he also said it's going to stay in the deep space for years, I think it leaves us with two options left. Actual orbit around Mars does not seem plausible, with transfer window a few months away and most probably no motor to perform braking maneuver.

The first option is that it may be something like a Hohmann transfer orbit with an apogee at the Mars orbit (they would go to the Mars orbit then, to some extent), but with the planet in the other place at the same time.

The second option is just a Mars flyby, far enough from the planet to make sure the payload won't smash into the surface. I guess that Roadster is not going to have any trajectory correction thrusters, so I don't they they would risk going too close.

Considering the cost of something space-navigation-propulsion-worthy of braking over a ton to Mars orbit after many months, I'm pretty sure "Mars orbit" in this case means "an orbit around the Sun that touches Mars orbit at one end, Earth orbit at the other". Might target for a Mars flyby, might not. Launch date would imply probably not, at least not a very close one.

They have had a long time to work on this and have plenty of spare parts to play with. A Super Draco has the in space endurance and performance to brake into orbit. There are probably test articles aplenty. A weldment to attach to the car's chassis, some solar panels, precise location of the COG, etc. I think SpaceX could cobble something up in a month or so. No big deal if it does not work, right?

Still a completely insane idea.

Matthew

Fixed that for you.

Maybe not so crazy... GM spende almost $4B per year on advertising.  What have they purchased with that tidy sum that will get as much press?

[Nomadd]

Here's what it would look like. Tesla Roadster length is 3.946 m. Curb weight is 1,305 kg.

I think you'd better figure the diagonal length.

[nacnud]

Maybe not so crazy... GM spende almost $4B per year on advertising.  What have they purchased with that tidy sum that will get as much press?

Good point, especially as Tesla has a marketing budget of essentially zero.

[kevin-rf]

Good point, especially as Tesla has a marketing budget of essentially zero.

I wouldn't exactly call the cost of a Falcon Heavy zero ;-)

[ClayJar]

If, as they have said, they're not completely sure it'll go off without a hitch, would it be smarter *not* to include large amounts of toxic hyperbolic propellants? In an RUD, most of them would disappear in the big fireball, but could enough remain to be inconvenient?

Of course, even if there's absolutely no potential post-RUD issue, not having hypergols to deal with during the test and launch campaign would be convenient.

(Elon should have just used an apostrophe and made it perfectly clear: destination Mars' orbit.)

[Darkseraph]

I presume a lot the car itself that isn't rated for space will be gutted and the vehicle will be permanently attached to the second stage. Perhaps the second stage could even be the 'service module' for the payload in that case. It would be kind of cool if they attempted something like the old Mars Greenhouse idea and tried to grow a plant in front of a camera at the distance of Mars, although expensive and hard to license. Does SpaceX even have a launch license yet for this flight?

[Johnnyhinbos]

If, as they have said, they're not completely sure it'll go off without a hitch, would it be smarter *not* to include large amounts of toxic hyperbolic propellants? In an RUD, most of them would disappear in the big fireball, but could enough remain to be inconvenient?

Of course, even if there's absolutely no potential post-RUD issue, not having hypergols to deal with during the test and launch campaign would be convenient.

(Elon should have just used an apostrophe and made it perfectly clear: destination Mars' orbit.)

What's a 'hyperbolic propellant'? :-)

Let me introduce the power of the word 'just':

Getting into Mars orbit is east. Just deploy the airbags for aerobreaking and then pump the breaks to slow it down the rest of the way. Of course you have to orient the firewall properly with the steering wheel...

[gongora]

I haven't noticed any FCC filings under the SpaceX name for this payload.  Unless they're registering a payload under some foreign subsidiary that only communicates with ground stations outside the U.S., it should have FCC filings if they intend to communicate with it.

[nacnud]

Good point, especially as Tesla has a marketing budget of essentially zero.

I wouldn't exactly call the cost of a Falcon Heavy zero ;-)

Well it is if SpaceX are paying for it, and it's launching anyway so... I do feel sorry for the Roadster though, hopefully it won't get as lonely as Spirit out there.

[sghill]

Eric Berger confirms it's not a joke: https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/with-bowie-playing-on-the-radio-elon-musk-plans-to-launch-his-tesla-to-mars/

Ars was able to confirm Friday night from a company source that this is definitely a legitimate payload.

The man has Panache.

Here's the car:

[matthewkantar]

the vehicle will be permanently attached to the second stage.

The money shot has to be the car drifting away from the PAF/bus/service module all on its own against the infinite black.

Matthew