Carnival of Space 440

1. Universe Today – ‘A City on Mars’ is Elon Musk’s Ulitmate Goal Enabled by Rocket Reuse Technology

How often will SpaceX recover the rockets ?

“I think that we’re going to get quite a few rockets back, so I imagine we’re going to have a whole fleet of booster rockets accumulating quite rapidly because we’re building them right now at about one every three weeks,” Musk stated.

“Over time we expect to get back over 99% of the rockets. So we will figure out how to make the reuse as easy as possible. So that really no work is required between reuses, apart from refilling the propellant tanks.”

“So it will take us a few years to iron all that out and make sure it all works well.”

How much does it cost to build the Falcon 9?

“The Falcon rocket costs about $60 million to build,” Musk said. “It’s kind of like a big jet, but the cost of the propellant, which is mostly oxygen and the gases, is only about $200,000. So that means that the potential cost reduction over the long term is probably in excess of a factor of a hundred.”

Up close post landing ocean view of SpaceX Falcon 9 at Landing Zone 1 the day after first stage touchdown at Landing Zone 1 on Dec 21, 2015 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Credit: Jeff Seibert/AmericaSpace

2. Universe of Today – Gallery of photos for Spacex nailing the perfect return to flight launch and historic vertical return landing.