Wednesday, August 26, 2020

SpaceX orbital shuttle concept by Rodrigo Magro

SpaceX is developing its Starship Super Heavy two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle for interplanetary flights. But, if you would need a flight only between the surface of Mars, Moon or other similar planetary body and its orbit, you could do it by less powerful spacecraft - an orbital shuttle.

Here is a concept of such spacecraft, called SpaceX Starflight, by Spanish transportation designer Rodrigo Magro. The orbital shuttle would have a lifting-body shape with thermal shield on the windward side, two forward winglets as Starship, four lower fins with landing legs and solar panels, large panoramic window and hypergolic auxiliary engines for landing on the Moon and other smaller planetary bodies.

SpaceX orbital shuttle on Mars by Rodrigo Magro

SpaceX orbital shuttle concept by Rodrigo Magro

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Amazon Prime Air deliveries on Mars

Picture of the Day 20/8/2020 - Amazon Prime Air craft delivering packages on Mars by American concept designer Dave Arredondo. More of his art here.

Amazon Prime Air deliveries on Mars by Dave Arredondo

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Saturday, August 8, 2020

SpaceX Starship fleet landing on Mars - video animation by Roger Bootsma

Video animation with SpaceX's Starship fleet consisting of one crew Starship and four cargo Starships landing on Mars by Austrian 3D environment artist Roger Bootsma. More of his art here.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

SpaceX Starship SN5 150m hop

On August 4, 2020 SpaceX's prototype Starship SN5 successfully performed 150 meter hop with one Raptor Engine at SpaceX's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

Starship Super Heavy is a fully reusable two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle and spacecraft currently developed by leading New Space company SpaceX.

Space illustrator Tony Bela captured the path of the flight in the sky from LabPadre's Sapphire Cam:
Flight path of SpaceX's Starship SN5 150m hop by Tony Bela

Thursday, July 30, 2020

NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch

Today, July 30, at 7:50 AM (EDT) NASA will launch its next generation Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to Mars. The rover will land on Mars on February 18, 2021 in Jezero Crater (Western Isidis Planitia) to collect samples for later retrieval; the rover will be accompanied by a small reconnaissance drone-helicopter Ingenuity.
Here you can watch NASA's livestream of the launch:

The Perseverance is a twin rover of the Curiosity rover (working on Mars since 2012) with some upgrades:
NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance vs Curiosity - infographic
Overview of the Perseverance scientific instruments:
NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover - infographic

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

SpaceX Starship fleet orbiting Earth by Dale Rutherford

Picture of the Day 29/7/2020 - SpaceX's Starship fleet consisting of several crew and cargo Starships orbiting Earth and preparing to depart for Mars by Scottish photographer & designer Dale Rutherford. More of his art here.

SpaceX's Starship fleet orbiting Earth by Dale Rutherford

Thursday, July 16, 2020

How SpaceX Mars Colony could look like in a few decades

Polish 3D artist Andrzej Pawelec has created his concept how SpaceX's Mars Colony could look like in a few decades with thousands of inhabitants. Here is detailed animation and drawings of his concept:



SpaceX's Mars Colony concept by Andrzej Pawelec

SpaceX's Mars Colony concept by Andrzej Pawelec

Monday, July 13, 2020

Cutaway diagram of SpaceX Lunar Starship

Unofficial cutaway diagram of SpaceX's Lunar Starship interior by Rocket Posters. The Lunar Starship is lunar optimized version (for NASA's Artemis program) of the fully reusable super heavy-lift spacecraft - Starship - currently developed by leading NewSpace company SpaceX.

SpaceX's Lunar Starship cutaway diagram by Rocket Posters

SpaceX's Lunar Starship cutaway diagram by Rocket Posters