3D印刷是埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）雄心勃勃的计划，即在接下来的四十到一百年中运送一百万人到火星。
Buzz Aldrin, Bill Nye and other luminaries of the scientific and astronautic world were in Mexico’s second largest city,Guadalajara，聆听亿万富翁将如何完成这一非凡的壮举并在火星上建造城市。
A fleet of spaceships
马斯克计划有1000天的飞船计划在地球轨道上等待，并准备每26个月出发，这是最佳行星对齐的时间。
Each spaceship will transport between 100 – 200 people at a cost, “roughly equivalent to the price of a medium sized house。”马斯克在Auspation SpaceX上定价了火星的票，可以带来当前的数字，“$10 billion per person”每吨有效载荷降至$ 190,000。
The Tesla & SpaceX founder used the example to an airplane ticket to illustrate his point. If airfare were based on using a plane that was good for only a single trip, then it might cost $500,000: the price of a Boeing 737 shared by 180 passengers. Because airplanes can make multiple trips, this cost can be reduced to $43.
And you thought checked luggage allowances were bad…
The initial journey time of 80 days is a little longer than even the most circuitous journey by traditional means, but the cost is calculated in a similar way. Musk’s target is a price of $140,000 per ton of payload, this would include the passenger’s luggage and food plus necessary life support systems.
Musk hopes that the promise of “零G游戏和披萨” will keep passengers entertained. “这一定很有趣，令人兴奋，所以人们想去“ 他说。3D打印还可以在为火星殖民者带来潜在的沉闷饮食方面发挥作用吗？当然，我们已经看到NASA探索了这个想法，Beehex此后已将某些工作商业化了3 d打印技术与食物.
鉴于马斯克自称对墨西哥流浪的热爱，这种音乐也可能是机上娱乐。国际宇航员大会（IAC）主持人瓜达拉哈拉（Guadalajara）可能是招募星际音乐家的最佳场所，因为这是马斯克偏爱音乐的发源地。
By Musk’s calculations it may take between 40 – 100 years to establish a population of a million people on Mars. While the space travel system is composed of multiple reusable elements these do have a finite life. The first leg of the journey to Mars involves liberating paying passengers from the firm grip of earth’s gravity.
This will be accomplished with a rocket 3.5 times greater -by payload capacity- than the current record holder, the Saturn V. The 130,000 tons of thrust necessary to lift 550,000 kg. comes from the Merlin rocket engine family, also developed by SpaceX. This allows the booster rocket to return to earth and land once the upper spaceship containing passengers reaches orbit and detaches.
Such an approach is advantageous according to Musk as it allows the space ship to take on the required fuel for the next phase of the journey in orbit. Refueling will take place above the earth and the huge carbon fiber tanks will be filled before the spaceship departs.
Mining Mars for Fuel
选择合适的燃料需要评估变量，包括成本，易于转移和在火星上产生燃料的潜力。“Deep-cryo methalox” was chosen over Kerosene or a Hydrogen/Oxygen mix. This methane based fuel can be produced, with relative simplicity, using the Sabatier reaction on the red planet.
Powering the spaceship are 42 Raptor engines, arranged in two outer circles with a cluster of 7 engines in the center. The outer engines are fixed in position, while the central engines can move on a gimbal.
Musk announced the successful testing of the Raptor earlier this week, and has previously discussed how SpaceX use 3D printing to manufacture their Draco engines. Made from Titanium and Inconel,3D打印允许SpaceX显着降低制造成本. Integrated cooling channels in the walls of the rocket engine chamber can be created using 3D printing, a process that would be, “真正的痛苦” using traditional methods.
Mars might be “一个好地方”但是马斯克不会成为第一组乘客之一。“The probability for death is very high on the first mission，”他解释说。
In space no one can hear you yawn
On his no-fly stance, Musk might still be swayed: especially after the unusual choice of ‘questions’ posed by some in attendance.
Gems included one gentleman who was keen to regale Musk with tales of his recent experiences at pseudo boho desert hippy fest, Burning Man, a question about ‘why’ we should go to space from someone who had presumably wandered into the presentation by error and another from a person who bizarrely described the, very necessary security workers, as “el Chapo’s militia.”
This turn of events prompted one Twitter wag to remark Musk might be, “重新考虑在其中一些问题之后拯救人类”.
The Expo center in Guadalajara continued to buzz after Musk’s hour and a half was over. Many I spoke to praised his vision and remarked that the $10 billion price tag for the project is dwarfed by the budget for less noble endeavors.
To finance the project Musk joked that Kickstarter might be useful, before suggesting that satellite launches would be a more likely source of revenue. He also said that SpaceX technology may have application in delivering cargo, “25分钟内到达地球上的任何地方。”
最后一次汽油3亿英里
由于担心该项目的范围会稀缺短期增长，因此马斯克以前表示不愿获取风险资本。在此活动中，他解释说，他的其他业务活动还有助于为该项目提供现金，并“我积累资金的原因是为此提供资金。”
如果观察家认为马斯克在2023年开始火星飞行的计划令人印象深刻，那么他的演讲的结论可以从这个世界上召集出来。
火星可能会在行星际加油站中使用飞船作为舞台，然后朝木星，土星甚至过去的冥王星前进。马斯克并不建议他的技术适合星际旅行，但是对于那些在我们的太阳系中徘徊的内容，他相信SpaceX将成为首选的载体。
And thankfully the spacious looking living quarters suggest that refuge from even the most Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal might be found.
All photos by Michael Petch
