Because of my university work load, which since the beginning of last year has changed from part time to full time, this update has been in production limbo since June 2014. I finished it around the end of last month and would have been posted during the week of the fallen Space Shuttle and Apollo 1 astronauts, if not for yet another DMCA attack on my channel. While there has still been no official unveiling of SpaceX's Mars strategy, a lot of developments in their technology has happened. Most notably the unveiling of the Dragon V2 intended for manned missions, and their propulsive landing tests of Falcon 9 rocket. But there have also been little trickles of information regarding their manned Mars proposals. In previous videos I theorized that the Falcon XX would launch the crewed Dragon, living quarters and radiation shelter module, and a second Falcon XX with two additional first stages as side boosters (Falcon XX Heavy) would carry the Earth Departure stage with all the propellent for the mission. In a March 7 2014 article, it was announced in a NASASpaceFlight.com article that SpaceX is working on a super heavy rocket with "one or three" 10m wide cores powered by nine LOX/Methan Raptor engines. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/03/spacex-advances-drive-mars-rocket-raptor-power/ While Falcon XX was originally intended to be a LOX/Kerosene rocket, this description is identical to my theory that they were planning to build a Falcon XX Heavy. The confirmation of this theory is further suggested by a statement SpaceX's Gwynne Shotwell made on March 23 2014. When asked about Falcon XX in an interview, she unwittingly admitted that they were planning on using it for Mars missions! http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/2212-BWB-2014-03-21.mp3 Now in my original educated guesses, I anticipated a crew of 7 people. In 2014, Elon Musk announced that the Mars Colonial Transporter was intended to carry 100 people! I have revised my educated guesses and theories accordingly. To lift the MCT would require something akin to Vladimir Chelomei's UR-700M rocket. Using SpaceX technology, this means strapping on SEVEN additional first stages around the Falcon XX - creating the Falcon XX Ultra Heavy, capable of carrying 1,600tons to Earth orbit, 533tons to the Moon, and 400tons to Mars. If we assume that the proposed MCT is only 422tons, then a Falcon XX Heavy could send it to Earth orbit and a Falcon XX Ultra Heavy could send up the propellants for the mission. For a moon mission, a single Falcon XX Ultra Heavy could send the MCT (Moon Colonial Transporter?) there in one go.

• published: 17 Feb 2015
• views: 92