Commercial Space Flight
By John Selfors
As technology improves, and as the us government subsidizes space travel the future of humans living on other planets is not far away. This shift in technology and subsidies will allow the cost of sending people to space will increase, as the demand for space travel increases due to people like Elon Musk (as shown in the graph).
As the graph shows there will be an increase in the amount of space travel while the price appears it has either moved up or down.
Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX wishes to send 1 million people to mars in the mid 2020’s. The one way tickets to mars will be around half a million dollars each. In order to send all the people he plans to make 100,000 trips with a giant spaceship with reusable rocket technology to decrease the cost of sending people to mars.
In the future as technology continues to improve supply with further increase, and rockets become cheaper while more of them are used. Also by launching rockets from locations that have better weather like the new rockets in Texas the launch rate of rockets will be able to be more frequent allowing for more test launches, and subsequently a faster development of technology which will lead to a further increase in supply further dropping price of space travel, and increasing the quantity of space travels.
Sources:
"Elon Musk thinks you could travel to Mars really soon - CNET." CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musks-mars-vision-is-bigger-than-you-thought/>.
"Mars Ahead? SpaceX Breaks Ground on Texas Spaceport - NBC News." NBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mars-ahead-spacex-breaks-ground-texas-spaceport-n209136>.
This is an incredibly interesting topic, but the thought of that many people on Mars begs the question; how would they survive. I do realize that there are potential ways for survival to be possible, but to put them on that large of a scale would require more testing, which, if the desired launch is in 2020, we are running out of time to do. So would the cost be less to try to cram the testing now, or to move back the launch date?
ReplyDeleteAs the NASA program funding is cut, this topic becomes more and more debatable among Americans, which makes it quite interesting to talk about. My question, like Sam's, is is it profitable to send these people to Mars? Think about all of the overhead costs, such as the survival equipment, fuel, and the rockets themselves. As it stands now, I don't see how this company will be able to survive, and is the technology really advancing fast enough to make it possible in ten short years? Also, is the demand for travel to mars high enough to actually get a million people to go? I feel that not many people would be willing to travel to Mars, much less have to pay half a million dollars to go.
ReplyDeleteWith this new development, there definitely would be an increased demand for space tourism, but other factors have to be put in account. First of all, These flights cost 500,000 dollars, not money that most Americans just have lying around. Also, There could be a recession, causing a decrease in income along with a decrease in demand.
ReplyDeleteI found this topic to be very interesting although I find it hard to believe that there will be 1 million people that can afford the cost of space travel to mars. Secondly I find it hard to believe that the cost of space travel will change in any dramatic way due the the amount of fuel and resources needed to make the trip all the way to mars and back. I would be interested to find out how long the trip lasts as well as if there is talk about keeping people on mars.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic. It is kind of hard to think that in about 6-10 years that their will be that many people that want to go to space. Plus the fact that it will cost that much to go up there, and we don’t know if will have the technology to safely bring 1 million people to mars. I think it will be a lot longer for people to actually want to go to mars and that they can do that safely.
ReplyDeleteAs technology increases and the years go by, space exploration will increase. Under space exploration, space tourism will increase as well. As the supply of rockets and technology increases, so does the demand to use them. So, the more people that want to explore space, the more demand for rockets there are since reusable rockets have not been made yet, normal rockets will have to do.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic to think about. Living on another planet is a great goal and dream, but is it realistically possible? Especially in the time frame he is proposing. Also, will he really be able to get a million people to pay half a million dollars? The only people who have that money to spend might not want to leave behind the comfortable living situation and move to another planet where the outcome is unpredictable and potentially disastrous.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Sam's comment. With this many people going to Mars, is there any plausible situation that we could send them there with the equipment and tools to survive for a long period of time or would we end up seeing a dismal fail that could delay space travel even more? I think the marginal benefit of sending people into space in such a small amount of time where the technology to do so is not quite at the point which is needs to be would not outweigh the marginal cost it could have on their lives and also the space exploration business within our country.
ReplyDelete