chickensevil
Active Member
Ah yes, that was it. I knew I saw it somewhere. I just couldn't remember where.
The reason for the Falcon X or whatever they are going to call the Mars Transport Ship... BFR I think is the current term... will use the Raptor engine that is in development. The biggest reason toward going this route is it is a methane based rocket and guess what is readily available and easy to get on mars? It certainly ain't RP-1 (Kerosene). Know of any dead dinosaurs on Mars?
With reuse being a key goal, they will likely leave the Falcon Heavy for either expendable long range missions or mostly things going as far as the moon. The BFR will be able to re-fuel (ideally) on Mars and then lift off for the return trip. Obviously there is a LOT of logistics that will need to happen to get there, but there are other good reasons beyond that to switch to methane.
Anyway, that is why I think they won't go the route of adding more to the Falcon Heavy. The other bit is that it is likely going to be tough enough to get the two outboard boosters to properly move its fuel into the central booster so they get 100% fuel use while also burning 100% of the engines. This is why they are able to get such crazy amount of thrust on the FH in such a small package (the other bit being very well designed Merlin engines )
The reason for the Falcon X or whatever they are going to call the Mars Transport Ship... BFR I think is the current term... will use the Raptor engine that is in development. The biggest reason toward going this route is it is a methane based rocket and guess what is readily available and easy to get on mars? It certainly ain't RP-1 (Kerosene). Know of any dead dinosaurs on Mars?
With reuse being a key goal, they will likely leave the Falcon Heavy for either expendable long range missions or mostly things going as far as the moon. The BFR will be able to re-fuel (ideally) on Mars and then lift off for the return trip. Obviously there is a LOT of logistics that will need to happen to get there, but there are other good reasons beyond that to switch to methane.
Anyway, that is why I think they won't go the route of adding more to the Falcon Heavy. The other bit is that it is likely going to be tough enough to get the two outboard boosters to properly move its fuel into the central booster so they get 100% fuel use while also burning 100% of the engines. This is why they are able to get such crazy amount of thrust on the FH in such a small package (the other bit being very well designed Merlin engines )