Elon Musk Hints 1st Person To Mars May Go Via New Brownsville Spaceport

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Elon Musk Hints 1st Person To Mars May Go Via New Brownsville Spaceport

Posted by timothy on Tuesday September 23, 2014 @02:18AM from the good-seats-not-yet-available dept.

MarkWhittington writes If SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has his way, the first astronaut to set foot on Mars may begin his or her journey from the new commercial spaceport being built at Boca Chica Beach, just outside Brownsville, Texas. The Texas Tribune reported on Monday that Musk made the suggestion at the ground breaking ceremony of the commercial spaceport. The ceremony was also attended by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and various other Texas politicians and dignitaries, Musk's desire to establish a Mars colony and even retire to the Red Planet himself is not a secret.

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Is this anything other than a press release? by i+kan+reed · 2014-09-23 02:26 · Score: 1

I mean, "We're building a [cool thing] and [cool related activity] might happen there" isn't really meaningful outside of a PR office.
1. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by DavidPetersonHarvey · 2014-09-23 02:29 · Score: 1
  
  Ha! You are so right. It's all rather pie in the sky at this point.
2. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by StripedCow · 2014-09-23 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  The announcement is as void as space.
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
3. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by khr · 2014-09-23 02:51 · Score: 2
  
  The announcement is as void as space.
  "In space no one can hear you announce."
4. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by StripedCow · 2014-09-23 03:01 · Score: 1
  
  I bet that if you have a *really* powerful speaker, and a *really* sensitive microphone, you would be able to detect the announcement, even in empty space (*)
  (*) I'm talking about tera-watts here.
  The exact dimensions would be something for e.g. the xkcd creator to figure out.
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
5. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by DroolTwist · 2014-09-23 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, it might be cake in the sky, not pie.
6. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-23 03:24 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I mean, "We're building a [cool thing] and [cool related activity] might happen there" isn't really meaningful outside of a PR office.
  
  Because nobody on /. wants to go into space or go to Mars.
  We all live in our mom's basement and are afraid to go outside.
7. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by gweihir · 2014-09-23 03:41 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Indeed. It would be a huge surprise if anybody went to Mars in the next 50 years. Let them sustain a Moon-base for 20 years, and then we can talk about it. All this "going to Mars" is pure nonsense at this time, as there is nothing there and no way to come back.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
8. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by DanielRavenNest · 2014-09-23 03:50 · Score: 2
  
  > as there is nothing there
  There is as much land area as the Earth. It just needs proper development. Las Vegas is in a fucking desert, and people live there anyway. The real problem is people who look at an empty piece of land and see nothing, rather than seeing the potential for what it could become.
9. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by Gavagai80 · 2014-09-23 04:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Antarctica is the most comparable place on Earth, and we've not managed a large-scale colonization of it yet despite the easy access, regular resupply flights and air.
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank
10. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by CastrTroy · 2014-09-23 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  If you ignore the part about coming back, then I could see there being a Mars landing in the next 25 years. But I'm with you on the 50 year outlook. There's very little we could gain by sending people there that we couldn't accomplish by sending robots. And as the years pass, and robots gets more and more capable, that will only become more true. People forget (or don't know) how far away Mars is. The minimum time required for a round trip to Mars is around 21 months. Also, they estimate you would need 3 million pounds of supplies to get to Mars. Just lifting that into space would take 60 shuttle launches.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
11. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by BringsApples · 2014-09-23 04:22 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I wish I had mod points for you. Imagine shipping off for 6 months, excited to begin a new. That whole six months, you are thinking about what the future holds, what exciting new things there will be to explore, or at the very least, experience. Then *PSSSHHH*, the doors open, and you are basically in Antarctica - for LIFE!
  
  No thanks.
  
  --
  Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
12. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by wonkey_monkey · 2014-09-23 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  You wouldn't need tera-watts if you just fired particles straight at the mic, if you'd still call that "sound."
  Otherwise I think you'd have to expect to be limited to incredibly low frequencies.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
13. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by Princeofcups · 2014-09-23 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  Antarctica is the most comparable place on Earth, and we've not managed a large-scale colonization of it yet despite the easy access, regular resupply flights and air.
  That's because short trips to Antarctica make more sense. When you are talking about Mars, you are talking about a very long trip, i.e. permanent.
  
  --
  The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
14. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by NatasRevol · 2014-09-23 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  Send them first.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
15. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by dpilot · 2014-09-23 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  You forgot the telephone sanitizers.
  
  --
  The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
16. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by angel'o'sphere · 2014-09-23 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  Antarcita is not more comparable to Mars as e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
  Actually it is two bladed: Antarctica at least has an atmosphere ... besides that Mars at the equator is just more hospitable.
  
  --
  Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
17. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by Spy+Handler · 2014-09-23 05:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Because there is no reason to colonize Antarctica. It has all the negatives without any of the positives.
  Mars has some huge positives, namely the fact that it's not Earth. Think of it as an offsite backup for the human race.
  Colonizing Antarctica would be like making a backup of your computer on a USB stick and then leaving it plugged in.
18. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by dogvomit · 2014-09-23 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  Then *PSSSHHH*, the doors open, and you are basically in Antarctica - for LIFE!
  Except that even the highest point in Antarctica has almost 100 times as much atmospheric pressure as the surface of Mars.
  —George
19. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by sexconker · 2014-09-23 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake.
  If the way is hazy,
  You gotta do the cooking by the book.
  You know you can't be lazy.
  Never use a messy recipe.
  The cake will end up crazy.
  If you do the cooking by the book,
  Then you'll have a cake.
  We gotta have it made.
  You know that I love cake.
  Finally it's time to make a cake.
20. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by sexconker · 2014-09-23 07:12 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Because there is no reason to colonize Antarctica. It has all the negatives without any of the positives.
  Penguins are a huge positive.
21. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by itzly · 2014-09-23 07:21 · Score: 2
  
  There are only a few and very unlikely scenarios where humans on Mars would have a better chance of survival than humans on Mars, and many likely scenarios where humans on Earth would have a huge advantage. Even something similar as the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event is survivable for a group of well prepared and sheltered humans on Earth, at a tiny fraction of the cost it would take to colonize Mars.
22. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by Spy+Handler · 2014-09-23 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  Human psychology is extremely relevant here.
  We could build a self-sustaining underground colony on Earth that's powered by nuclear reactors and which grows its own food hydroponically. It could probably survive a dinosaur-killer asteroid event. And as you mentioned, it would cost way less than a Mars colony.
  But think about it. Who the hell wants to live in an underground colony on Earth, permanently? You're not gonna get many volunteers. And I guarantee *nobody* is going to fund it. Living underground in Kansas has zero glamour. Like it or not, humans love exploring new places and thanks to sci-fi, Mars has a tremendous romantic value.
  And that's just the "human race survival contingency" aspect. In the long term (centuries), Mars has so much more to offer than Kansas underground. Think of the resources to be discovered, science to be done. It's a whole new world!
23. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by gweihir · 2014-09-23 08:26 · Score: 1
  
  Excellent point!
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
24. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by gweihir · 2014-09-23 08:31 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed. Now, if we manage to make robots that can make more robots on Mars, they could prepare some kind of colony. But judging from CS, Material Sciences and other advances of the last 50 years, that is far, far away. And at the very least we would need to solve the energy problem first. Working, reliable nuclear fusion is at least 50 years away. Add another 50 years for miniaturizing it and making it space capable. At that point, we can revisit the idea, but not before.
  The facts just do not pan out on basically any aspect of the idea of sending humans anytime soon.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
25. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by HornWumpus · 2014-09-23 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  Underground or aboveground, won't change Kansas. People live there now.
  
  --
  John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
26. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by KeensMustard · 2014-09-23 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  But think about it. Who the hell wants to live in an underground colony on Earth, permanently? You're not gonna get many volunteers.
  Umm. Where do you think the Mars colonists will live? Mars is bathed in radiation, and it is, for all intents and purposes, a vacuum. To live on Mars is to live underground. On Earth, you could shelter underground and then return to the surface to live, after only a few days, should a Chicxulub type event ever occur. And then, back to business. On Mars, you are underground until your colony dies out, which it will.
  
  And I guarantee *nobody* is going to fund it. Living underground in Kansas has zero glamour. Like it or not, humans love exploring new places and thanks to sci-fi, Mars has a tremendous romantic value.
  No it doesn't. There is little, if any, public feeling in favour of a Mars colony. There is a small group of enthusiasts who project their feelings onto others. Short term enthusiasm will not sustain a venture on this scale. If these enthusiasts get their way and a tentative Mars colony is established, it will soon become obvious to everyone that Mars is boring and deadly and life for the colonist there is worse than living in a hut in Antarctica. At least in Antarctica you can go outside. I'd give that colony a year at most before funding is cut off.
27. Re:Is this anything other than a press release? by KeensMustard · 2014-09-23 09:59 · Score: 2
  Mars has some huge positives, namely the fact that it's not Earth. Think of it as an offsite backup for the human race.
  Colonizing Antarctica would be like making a backup of your computer on a USB stick and then leaving it plugged in.
  If you were my backup guy, I'd fire you. Your backup plan is analogous to moving (not copying, moving) a few gigabytes of a petabyte production system onto a usb stick, and then storing that usb stick in a ziplock bag under an iceberg on the arctic circle. This is not a good backup plan, owing to the following:
  
  You backup plan doesn't actually copy any data, it just moves it
  The vast majority of the important data lies unprotected
  The "backup" itself is inadequately protected and subjected to such hazard that you will lose that data (permanently)
  A large part of the plan is difficult and hazardous for reasons that are arbitrary. If you want to protect the data, why store it in such an inhospitable place? Why store it in a place that is so difficult and expensive to get to?
28. Re: Is this anything other than a press release? by StripedCow · 2014-09-23 10:37 · Score: 1
  
  Moving charged particles around generates electromagnetic radiation, which can be picked up by e.g. a coil in a microphone :)
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
Woohoo by suman28 · 2014-09-23 02:30 · Score: 1

Men will finally be from Mars...Now, if only we could work so hard to get to Venus
Re:Playing to the crowd by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-23 02:36 · Score: 1

To clarify, low probability of first leaving for mars from Boca Chica, not a low probability of eventually going to mars.
One's dreams may be superseded by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-23 02:45 · Score: 1

So Musk wants to retire on Mars. He's stll got a couple of decades left of work in him. Then, how ironic it would be if, just as he lands, Earth is hitting the Singularity, transforming our civilization's power and aspirations so radically that travelling on a slow chemical fuel rocket to another planet would seem horribly passé.
1. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by TheCarp · 2014-09-23 02:54 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Then he will spend his latter years telling people how he traveled to Mars before it was cool.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
2. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by kruach+aum · 2014-09-23 02:56 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It would certainly be funny, but it would also never happen, because the Singularity is the nerd version of the Rapture. Human consciousness is not hardware agnostic.
3. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by Spy+Handler · 2014-09-23 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, that is the most insightful thing I've read on Slashdot in years!
4. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by gweihir · 2014-09-23 03:42 · Score: 1
  
  Well, maybe his ashes will go there. That wuld be realistic. Nothing else is.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
5. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-23 03:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Human consciousness is not hardware agnostic.
  [citation needed]
  
  --
  Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
6. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2014-09-23 03:59 · Score: 2
  
  I thought he would be telling them "Get off my regolith!"...
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
7. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by Hadlock · 2014-09-23 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  We've had the capability to put a man on Mars since the mid-1970's.... Just not the political will. Now that spaceflight is in the commercial realm, it's no long political willpower + taxpayer cost, it's just private cost and selling that dream to the right person.
  
  --
  moox. for a new generation.
8. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by gweihir · 2014-09-23 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  Not if that man should survive for any length of time or be able to get back. Also note that that man will arrive sterile due to radiation damage.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
9. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by kruach+aum · 2014-09-23 08:26 · Score: 1
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
10. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by doug141 · 2014-09-23 11:52 · Score: 1
  
  The consciousness of the future will not be like that of today, same as the consciousness of today is not like that of yesterday. But it may still call itself "human."
11. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by Namarrgon · 2014-09-23 14:22 · Score: 1
  
  Speculation, and only relevant if we want to duplicate human consciousness. And even then, lower levels of virtual sensory input may well be sufficient for those purposes.
  For much of the Singularity's predictions, non-human intelligences with varying levels of consciousness would be enough. We don't need to make a submarine swim like a fish for it to be useful.
  
  --
  Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
12. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by Namarrgon · 2014-09-23 14:23 · Score: 1
  
  Not seeing any connection with consciousness there?
  
  --
  Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
13. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-24 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Interesting read, thanks for the link. That article brings up a very valid point: it's not likely to do us any good to simply simulate, in silicon, a human brain as an isolated system. However, if at some point we can simulate the human brain, I don't see why simulating "the motor system, the perceptual system, the body's interactions with the [simulated] environment (situatedness) and the ontological assumptions about the [simulated] world that are built into the body and the brain" would be any more difficult.
  
  --
  Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
14. Re:One's dreams may be superseded by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-24 00:34 · Score: 1
  
  Terrible link. You fail at citing.
  
  --
  Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
There is a song about this by thrig · 2014-09-23 03:19 · Score: 1

Sing along now! Oh we'll send him to outer space, to find another race
Re:Elon Musk's a great person imo! apk by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-23 03:45 · Score: 1

Mod parent up. Not a single mention of a hosts file.

--
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
Re:Right! I only post on hosts... apk by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-23 04:13 · Score: 1

Oh lord, what have I done!

But really, I'm surprised you're not a bot. And that you posted not once, but twice on the same day without mentioning your hosts file. I apologize to the rest of slashdot for bringing it up (in jest), as I had no idea it would backfire like this.

Anyway, apk, while Mr. Musk is doing cool shit here, it's important to admire the cool shit, not Mr. Musk, as the last thing we need is another cult of personality. Kudos to SpaceX for recently setting a new (personal best) record for launch cadence, and good luck setting that firecracker back down on the ground next time.

--
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
Re:Right! I only post on hosts... apk by rogoshen1 · 2014-09-23 04:42 · Score: 1

yes, you summoned *him*
Of course they would boogie up from Brownsville by RevWaldo · 2014-09-23 06:05 · Score: 1

It was predicted ages ago!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

.

--
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Re:Right! I only post on hosts... apk by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-09-23 06:09 · Score: 1

Admittedly, I find it fascinating that he actually holds opinions and communicates about something other than his hosts file. News to me.

Frighteningly, he doesn't seem any better or worse than a typical slashdotter when he's not talking about the hosts file. Case in point: his reply to your post. Totally blows away any preconceptions I had of him, to say the least. Weird.

I'm still irritated by his frequent misuse of punctuation and capitalization, but that's par for the course here.

--
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
bit ambitious, innit? by jjeffries · 2014-09-23 07:05 · Score: 1

I'm thinking that a good first step would be something a little closer like, I dunno, that big whiteish thing that we can see in the sky at night... what's that forgotten thing called again?...
Re:The purpose of Brownsville. by harperska · 2014-09-23 07:51 · Score: 1

It is probably a practical impossibility to reserve enough fuel on the Falcon 9 to do an RTB back to the cape, as staging occurs right around 2000 m/s and reversing direction from that sort of velocity is surely more dangerous, inefficient, and mechanically wearing than launching from Brownsville and letting the first stage follow its natural 2 km/s parabolic path over Florida instead.
The current version of the Falcon 9 absolutely has enough fuel to return the first stage back to the cape for LEO launches. That was the whole point of the v1.1 upgrade. They already do the direction reversal and flyback on all non GTO launches. The only reason they haven't done a pad landing yet is that they are still practicing landing over water just off shore before they are comfortable enough to actually land on the pad.
They might be able to get a higher payload to LEO with the current Falcon 9 by launching from Brownsville and landing in Florida, but that is definitely not a requirement to do landings. Plus, if they were to land in Florida, they would have to build a special landing pad on the gulf coast as landing at the cape would require flying over populated areas which I highly doubt the FAA would allow at this point.
Brilliant idea! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-23 08:44 · Score: 1

Building a spaceport in Brownsville is a brilliant idea. Presumably it will save a lot on rocket fuel, as rockets will take off by sheer force of will just to get the fuck out of Brownsville.
Re: The first person to go to mars will not return by WindBourne · 2014-09-23 09:14 · Score: 1

First off, we have already traveled to the moon and back. And nobody died directly.
secondly, other than the house neo-cons/tea*, nobody expects anybody going to mars to come back for at least 10-15 years if ever.

--
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
On topic: your sig by nitehawk214 · 2014-09-23 13:04 · Score: 1

I bet The Doctor could use the LHC as a high frequency speaker.

--
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
1. Re:On topic: your sig by wonkey_monkey · 2014-09-24 04:31 · Score: 1
  
  Wouldn't need it. A sonic screwdriver and a Christmas Mobile Disco and he'd be all set.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Backup Plan? by quax · 2014-09-24 02:58 · Score: 1

Many CEOs have emergency plans for a retirement out of reach from shareholder class action suits, but this seems a bit excessive.