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Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) is the name of the privately funded development project by U.S. company SpaceX to design and build a spaceflight system〔 of reusable rocket engines, launch vehicles and space capsules to transport humans to Mars and return to Earth. SpaceX began development of the large Raptor rocket engine for the Mars Colonial Transporter before 2014, but the MCT will not be operational earlier than the mid-2020s.〔 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Elon Musk: Just watch me – I'll put HUMAN BOOTS on Mars by 2026 )〕 ==History== SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has stated at least since 2007 the personal goal of eventually enabling human exploration and settlement of Mars. He stated in a 2011 interview that he hoped to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years.〔 By late 2012, Musk stated that he envisions a Mars colony of tens of thousands〔 〕 with the first colonists arriving no earlier than the middle of the 2020s.〔 〕 In October 2012, Musk stated plans to build a second reusable rocket system with capabilities substantially beyond the Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy launch vehicles on which SpaceX had by then spent several billion US dollars. This new vehicle will be "an evolution of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster ... much bigger (Falcon 9 )." But Musk indicated that SpaceX would not be speaking publicly about it until 2013.〔 〕〔 In June 2013, Musk stated that he intends to hold off any potential IPO of SpaceX shares on the stock market until after the "Mars Colonial Transporter is flying regularly."〔 〕〔 〕 In February 2014, Musk stated that Mars Colonial Transporter will be "100 times the size of an SUV", and capable of taking 100 people at a time to Mars.〔 〕 Also, SpaceX engine development head Tom Mueller said SpaceX would use nine Raptor engines on a single rocket, similar to the use of nine Merlin engines on each Falcon 9 booster core. He said "It's going to put over 100 tons of cargo on Mars."〔 In early 2014, it appeared that the large rocket core that would be used for the booster to be used with MCT would be at least in diameter, nearly three times the diameter and over seven times the cross-sectional area of the Falcon 9 booster cores.〔 〕 In August 2014, media sources speculated that the initial flight test of the Raptor-driven super-heavy launch vehicle could occur as early as 2020, in order to fully test the engines under orbital spaceflight conditions; however, any colonization effort would be "deep into the future".〔 In January 2015, Musk said that he hoped to release details of the "completely new architecture" for the Mars transport system in late 2015.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mars Colonial Transporter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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