I doubt this is going to be a big deal. Elon was pretty adamant that all he was hoping for with this test was to clear the pad. The crash was pretty much inevitable, the only question was how high it will go before it blows up.

He crashed what, 6 or 7 Starships in the initial, single stage tests before he landed one. Was there anything other than cursory investigation on those attempts?

How the heck is this thing supposed to take back off from the surface of Mars ?

Last I heard Elon talk about it the first few trips to Mars are one way affairs.

How it will take back off from the moon is a better question. I’d assume the version of the ship that does that duty will have some sort of base to elevate the engines enough that they won’t be damaged by the debris it will inevitably stir up.

The rocket exploding is not the mishap.

Throwing concrete boulders 1/2 mile and dust for 6 miles is the mishap.

The lack of adequate FTS is also a serious issue. Indeed, the fact the rocket DIDN'T blow up properly is far more serious than the fact it DID.

Mike C.

Last I heard Elon talk about it the first few trips to Mars are one way affairs.

How it will take back off from the moon is a better question. I’d assume the version of the ship that does that duty will have some sort of base to elevate the engines enough that they won’t be damaged by the debris it will inevitably stir up.

Everyone who goes there will soon want to return. There's nothing on Mars anyone wants and plenty to drive you away including radiation, no water, no food, no air, no energy, little sunlight. Some people like the idea of living on Mars, but they won't like the reality.

Living on the Moon would be a LOT easier, closer, more sun, more energy, less gravity to overcome, no sandstorms, and just as useful.

Mike C.

Some people just like living in remote places on the edge. The guy who managed our telescope project over winter at the south pole, has gone there every winter for the last 10 years or more. He finds the main base too crowded so he mostly stays in the smaller building a quarter mile away that houses the telescope systems.

There is a long waiting list for working on the Antarctic tram which takes a multi-week drive from Mc Murdo to the pole.

I'm sure there will be enough people who like the idea of living on mars to keep the base occupied


Everyone who goes there will soon want to return. There's nothing on Mars anyone wants and plenty to drive you away including radiation, no water, no food, no air, no energy, little sunlight. Some people like the idea of living on Mars, but they won't like the reality.

Living on the Moon would be a LOT easier, closer, more sun, more energy, less gravity to overcome, no sandstorms, and just as useful.

Mike C.

Everyone who goes there will soon want to return. There's nothing on Mars anyone wants and plenty to drive you away including radiation, no water, no food, no air, no energy, little sunlight. Some people like the idea of living on Mars, but they won't like the reality.

Living on the Moon would be a LOT easier, closer, more sun, more energy, less gravity to overcome, no sandstorms, and just as useful.

Mike C.

Not permanently.

And Antarctica is heavenly compared to Mars.


Agreed, they like the idea.

They won't like the reality.

I can build a Mars simulator here on Earth. It will be a dark, super cold room underground that if you step outside you get bombarded by radiation and die of asphyxiation. You will get no water, food, or air.

Good luck!

Mike C.

Not permanently.

And Antarctica is heavenly compared to Mars.


Agreed, they like the idea.

They won't like the reality.

I can build a Mars simulator here on Earth. It will be a dark, super cold room underground that if you step outside you get bombarded by radiation and die of asphyxiation. You will get no water, food, or air.

Good luck!

Mike C.

South pole is less hostile than mars by a lot, but its also less interesting. Fun for a week, but then its just flat and white. You can walk as far as you want and nothing changes. Mars OTOH has very interesting scenery.

You don't need a full space suit in the Antarctic winter, but close. Adding pressurization wouldn't change it much.

The point is actually being somewhere remote. The same people who enjoy working in the remote ataractic in winter would not want to sit in a refrigerated chamber for 6 months. Its not so different from people who enjoy flying real airplanes, but have no interest in simulators (except for training to fly real planes).


Not permanently.

And Antarctica is heavenly compared to Mars.


Agreed, they like the idea.

They won't like the reality.

I can build a Mars simulator here on Earth. It will be a dark, super cold room underground that if you step outside you get bombarded by radiation and die of asphyxiation. You will get no water, food, or air.

Good luck!

Mike C.

What I’ve read says that the relative intensity of the sun on Mars is half of what we get on Earth. It’s not accurate, but I’m guessing that if we assume 100% sunlight at our equator and zero at the poles, then 45° Latitude would have about the same relative solar intensity as the equator on Mars.

The problem on Mars isn’t distance and intensity, it’s that there is no magnetosphere on Mars to deflect the incoming solar wind, which is a bunch of high energy particles and what Mike C. is talking about when he says “radiation”. It’s a serious problem, and one way to mitigate it is to live underground, though as he points out, that would be unpleasant.

There are other less extreme options. The bottom of the Valles Marineris is 7km (4 mi) deep in places, and the shadow that the walls cast also provides shelter from the solar wind. There are some other options.

Mike’s not wrong, but it is not impossible to live there, and I would bet not as miserable as he makes it out to be. I would not want to be a colonist, but I would sure love to visit for a year.

Perhaps - If you don't think about the possible (certain?!) outcome too much.....

Rod Serling/Damon Knight had a pretty humorous take on it over 60 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DAzo6rHxGw&list=PLgsn43CcDOc3-COrlUvLQtVl3pLt_fDNh&index=13

Perhaps - If you don't think about the possible (certain?!) outcome too much.....

We have a comfortable life here in the first world on earth....
Given that:
Humans are explorers....

History has lots of example of people leaving comfort for an uncertain future in an inhospitable place.

The "Comfortable Normal" people all thought these people were crazy too....