How SpaceX and NASA will build the Mars Colony

The Tesla Space YouTube Channel

If it has anything to do with the government, then the odds of it ever succeeding goes down dramatically. Goverments change, and this is a long-term project.

Indeed, even a private outfit like SpaceX has its problems when dealing with a government. They cannot do much of anything without the deadening hand of regulation being placed upon it.

In my opinion, a space colony will get built only if the government is kept as far from it as possible. Even then, it may be a hazardous undertaking even before it gets off the ground.

As best as I can figure, Elon Musk will get there if the government doesn't stop him first. But as for the success of the venture, I'm not too much more sure than this YouTuber is that it will ultimately succeed.

Nuclear thermal rocketry is mentioned. Unfortunately, this will have to be regulated by the government. No way this can be done privately. Indeed, that is the propostion of this video. The proposition is that a chemically powered rocket just won't be enough.

Nuclear power COULD come along, if the aneutronic fusion experiments are successful. In that case, nuclear power won't need so much regulation, as no bombs are possible with such a device, and nuclear waste is minimal.

The video doesn't mention aneutronic fusion. Aneutronic fusion means that no neutrons are produced, which means lower risk of destabilizing atoms and making them radioactive.

Incidentally, why are nuclear rockets better? It's the tyranny of the rocket equation. Indeed, the best chemical rockets are capable of ISP's of 400 to 450 seconds. An ISP is the measure of its efficiency. You have to carry along your own fuel, as there aren't any filling stations along the way.

An ISP of a fusion engine can be as high as a million. Quite the difference. By the way, the ISP is calculated as the effective velocity of the exhaust times the gravitation constant.

Nuclear thermal technology is mentioned in the video. A nuclear thermal engine will heat the exhaust to higher temperatures than a chemical reaction, thus resulting in a higher effective velocity. The rocket engines the video mentions were capable of about twice the ISP of the best chemical engines. About twice the effective velocity then.

For a fusion device, the effective velocity would be a significant fraction of the speed of light. That is how fast the particles fly off when they fuse.

Quite fascinating, yes? I'd agree with the authors that made the video, but the tech will probably not be nuclear, and Elon Musk's engines will have to be chemical for the near term at least.