As detailed by the company, it aims to send the unmanned Dragon spacecraft to Mars by 2018. This incorporates eight rocket engines called SuperDracos, which would activate as a spacecraft descends onto Mars’ surface, slowing it down just enough to land safely. That could fulfill the billionaire CEO’s goal of sending the human race to the Red Planet.
Advertisement
He has previously stated that with the help of the Falcon Heavy, the Dragon 2 can go “pretty much anywhere” within our solar system, though landing the spacecraft will obviously prove to be a more hard task.
Musk will reveal his plans for sending humans to Mars in September at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, said The Verge.
Kyree is a tech news writer for IGN.
However, the Dragon 2 is not created to transport humans to other planets.
However, information regarding the number of spacecraft being sent to Mars was not mentioned by the company.
SpaceX ‘could provide valuable entry, descent and landing data to NASA for our journey to Mars, while providing support to American industry, ‘ Nasa said in a statement.
The company said it is planning to send its Dragon spaceraft to the red planet as early as 2018.
SpaceX had been at looking at modifying the Dragon spacecraft as an unmanned lander for the Martian surface, and a year ago this idea piqued the interest of NASA researchers.
The cargo version of Dragon is presently at the International Space Station and is due to splash down in the Pacific Ocean next month.
Especially intriguing is that the announcement refers to the spacecraft as the “Red Dragon”.
In this regard, NASA said in a press release that it is providing “technical support” for SpaceX’s mission, without financial backing.
The image on the left shows a Falcon 9 rocket leaving Earth.
Musk took to Twitter Wednesday to explain that Red Dragon will be the craft used for an inaugural “test flight”.
Advertisement
SpaceX also announced on Wednesday that it had won a contract from the U.S. Air Force for $82 million, a first for the private company.
