Around the world in eighty days goes deep down in the history when technological innovations are at the pinnacle of brisk moving world. When we talk of modernizations in distances vs time, no one knew there is a lot to come, until 29 September2017, when Elon Musk, CEO SpaceX revealed an incredible idea of travelling from one point on earth to another in a matter of minutes.
The idea is based on the reusability of space rockets which he claims BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) will be totally reusable, just like airplanes. This claim is sequel to 16 successful vertical landings of rockets back onto Earth after completing their missions. Two of them have flew for the second time.
While addressing an audience of 4000 people at International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Musk, after briefing about his ambitions of establishing a colony at Mars, revealed his plan of brisk travelling using a video demonstration.
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It displayed a ship carrying a hundred voyagers onto a floating launch pad and people get on board BFR. This space rocket leaves the Earth atmosphere vertically, re-enters after travelling 11897 km and lands safely on launch pad in an unbelievable time of 39 minutes. This revolution will for the first time let everyone experience a space eye view instead of a bird’s eye view.
The BFR spaceship stretches to 157 feet in length and weighs approximately 1200 tons when fully fueled. BFR has the capacity to move at a maximum speed of 27000 kilometers per hour. It has been designed in a way so as to provide room for about 40 crew cabins and 100 individuals, a shelter from solar storm radiations, a galley, an entertainment area, and common areas.
The facility is likely to be available by 2022, five years from now. To meet these strict timelines, company is planning to commence building the spaceship by 2018. Musk emphasized on his ambitions to meet these timelines by mentioning in his presentationthat year 2022 is not a typo but it is aspirational.
The video also projected travelling from Hong Kong to Singapore in 22 minutes, Los Angeles to Toronto in 24 minutes and Los Angeles to New York in 25 minutes along with other major cities dictating “Most long distance trips in less than 30 Minutes” and “Anywhere on Earth in under an hour” for around the same price as an economy airline ticket.
The concept is though first of its kind but anything displayed in video demonstration did make sense to the audience present there. This is because of 16 in-a-row successful landings of rockets before Musk came and stood on stage. His idea of moving in and out of Earth before taking humans to Mars might also serve as a trial before leaving for the Red planet.
While in space, the BFR is going to be silk smooth because of no turbulence or friction of any kind, but questions might raise about smooth takeoff and landing of the rocket with people on board. SpaceX is right on a mission which seemed impossible a while back. Hiccups are surely to arise but then five years is not a less time when CEO is ambitious enough.
