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I suspect that the reason Elon is investing in the Boring Co is to send a drill to Mars to create underground structures cheaply. This would create structures

I suspect that the reason Elon is investing in the Boring Co is to send a drill to Mars to create underground structures cheaply. This would create structures protected against radiation (and alot of space) relatively easily.

MikkoFinell 9y ago
Yeah in his TED talk he also went into some detail about how easy it is to control the atmospheric pressure in tunnels. The boring technology is just too obviously synergistic with all concerns about habitats on Mars.
semi-extrinsic 9y ago
Sure, a 100m long, 6000+ ton payload made from things that spin around quickly sounds perfect for launching to Mars! It's only, what, three-four orders of magnitude larger than anything we've ever sent to the red planet. And it only requires the power from one gas turbine powerplant running continuously. Should be cakewalk. And when it breaks (they all do, all the time) I'm sure spare parts and engineers are plentiful up there.
- c22 9y ago
  If he wanted to send existing boring tech to Mars he wouldn't have to start a boring company to advance the state of the art. He could just buy an existing product and start figuring out ways to launch it.
  - sithadmin 9y ago
    I can't tell if this is serious criticism or an attempt at irony. Pretty much all the Boring Company has done so far is buy existing products.
    - c22 9y ago
      I'm not being ironic or obtuse. This company is barely a year old, I suspect the improvements alluded to will take many decades to perfect. Starting with the existing state of the art and attempting to become a profitable earthbound venture is not an absurd opening strategy for meeting this goal. Musk has stated: "I do think getting good at digging tunnels could be really helpful for Mars. For sure there's going to be a lot of ice mining on Mars, and mining in general to get raw materials. You can build a tremendous amount underground with the right boring technology on Mars. So I do think there is some overlap in that technology development arena."
- YaxelPerez 9y ago
  That's where the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) comes in. I think Musk said that it could carry a fully loaded 747 as cargo to space.
  - martindevans 9y ago
    If the 6000+ tonne number quoted above is accurate then a BFR is a very long way from sending one to Mars - I can't remember the precise payload figure but I think it was around 100 tonnes to the surface of Mars.
jlebrech 9y ago
they could also precision land explosive (like a ring of C4) onto the opening of a martian lava tube, then precision land an airlock onto the opening, the astronauts could look inside and find and plug any leaks inside the tube prior to adding atmosphere to it.

MikkoFinell 9y ago

Yeah in his TED talk he also went into some detail about how easy it is to control the atmospheric pressure in tunnels. The boring technology is just too obviously synergistic with all concerns about habitats on Mars.

semi-extrinsic 9y ago

Sure, a 100m long, 6000+ ton payload made from things that spin around quickly sounds perfect for launching to Mars! It's only, what, three-four orders of magnitude larger than anything we've ever sent to the red planet. And it only requires the power from one gas turbine powerplant running continuously. Should be cakewalk. And when it breaks (they all do, all the time) I'm sure spare parts and engineers are plentiful up there.

c22 9y ago
If he wanted to send existing boring tech to Mars he wouldn't have to start a boring company to advance the state of the art. He could just buy an existing product and start figuring out ways to launch it.
- sithadmin 9y ago
  I can't tell if this is serious criticism or an attempt at irony. Pretty much all the Boring Company has done so far is buy existing products.
  - c22 9y ago
    I'm not being ironic or obtuse. This company is barely a year old, I suspect the improvements alluded to will take many decades to perfect. Starting with the existing state of the art and attempting to become a profitable earthbound venture is not an absurd opening strategy for meeting this goal. Musk has stated: "I do think getting good at digging tunnels could be really helpful for Mars. For sure there's going to be a lot of ice mining on Mars, and mining in general to get raw materials. You can build a tremendous amount underground with the right boring technology on Mars. So I do think there is some overlap in that technology development arena."
YaxelPerez 9y ago
That's where the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) comes in. I think Musk said that it could carry a fully loaded 747 as cargo to space.
- martindevans 9y ago
  If the 6000+ tonne number quoted above is accurate then a BFR is a very long way from sending one to Mars - I can't remember the precise payload figure but I think it was around 100 tonnes to the surface of Mars.

jlebrech 9y ago

they could also precision land explosive (like a ring of C4) onto the opening of a martian lava tube, then precision land an airlock onto the opening, the astronauts could look inside and find and plug any leaks inside the tube prior to adding atmosphere to it.