It has been over 30 years since a human walked on a heavenly body that is not Earth, and many people think it's high time that we start shooting for the planets. SpaceX, for example, recently announced that it plans to send a Dragon capsule to the red planet carrying NASA science payloads as early as 2018.

As the YouTube channel Real Engineering points out, Elon Musk has estimated that if he can reduce the cost of a private ticket to Mars to $500,000, then enough people who want to go will be able to afford it, and the colonization process can begin. What, then, is the most cost-efficient way to get to Mars?

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The Hohmann transfer method, first proposed by Walter Hohmann in 1925, uses the least amount of fuel to get from Earth to Mars. The launch involves waiting until Earth is at its closest point to the sun, and Mars is positioned about 44.4 degrees ahead of Earth's orbit. It is not the fastest way, but the method is the most efficient path to Mars, and the two planets align properly for a Hohmann transfer launch about every 26 months.

One of the best ways to cut costs is to reuse rockets for multiple missions, something that SpaceX has been investing heavily in with a large amount of success. Thrusters, grid fins, and the first stage engines themselves are all used to slow the rocket booster down and steer it in for a vertical landing so it can be launched another day.

SpaceX is also able to reduce costs by designing and developing all of the aerospace equipment and software it uses in-house, unlike past launch systems which have incorporated many different components made by many different companies. With the Falcon Heavy rocket scheduled to launch for the first time by the end of the year, and even bigger launch vehicles and more powerful Merlin engines being designed by SpaceX, the price of launching people and equipment to outer space could continue to plummet.

Once we get the cost of travel low enough, it could only be a matter of time before we unlock the key to sustained habitation on Mars.

Source: Real Engineering

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