Elon Musk reveals pics of ‘Big F***ing Rocket’ that will fly mystery passenger around the MOON
ELON Musk has shared concept renders of his "Big F***ing Rocket", the craft that will soon fly a mystery passenger around the Moon.
The launch system, also known as the Big Falcon Rocket, is also expected to one day take humans to Mars.
Musk's new graphics show off a streamlined system, with a finned craft attached to the top of a giant booster.
According to previous figures, the spaceship itself will measure 157 feet tall, while the booster will be even bigger at 191 feet.
It's the creation of Musk's SpaceX rocket company, which is hoping to use the BFR for manned missions to Mars
But it's also set to be used for a mysterious trip around the Moon – a stunt first announced by Musk back in 2017.
SpaceX first announced its Moon mission back in February 2017, but details were light at the time.
The rocket firm originally planned to send two private citizens on a space trip around Earth's closest neighbour, using the company's Big Falcon Rocket.
Last week, SpaceX confirmed that they had secured a single willing passenger for the trip.
But the rider's identity remains a mystery, and will only be revealed during a SpaceX webcast tonight, at 2am UK time.
In a tweet sent last week, SpaceX said: "SpaceX has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle."
SpaceX added that it was "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of travelling to space."
Musk did offer up one clue as to who might be on board.
Someone on Twitter said "Elon, it's you, isn't it?", to which Elon Musk replied with the Japanese flag emoji.
This probably that the person set to take part in the flight will be either Japanese, or living in Japan.
It's also very likely that the person will be very rich – building the rocket and launching it will likely cost billions.
There's no word on whether the passenger will have to fund the trip themselves however, or if SpaceX will be picking up some (or all) of the cost.
Elon Musk also issued a fresh tweet today, where he wrote the hashtag #OccupyMars. This could mean we'll hear news about SpaceX's planned Mars missions during tonight's webcast, too.
Musk's lunar loop trip is a good opportunity to test the BFR before it takes aim at the red planet. Sadly, we still have no idea when the trip-around-the-Moon mission will take place.
Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969, so perhaps the trip may be timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of that historic feat next year.
The Moon – our closest neighbour explained
Here's what you need to know...
- The Moon is a natural satellite – a space-faring body that orbits a planet
- It's Earth's only natural satellite, and is the fifth biggest in the Solar System
- The Moon measures 2,158 miles across, roughly 0.27 times the diameter of Earth
- Temperatures on the Moon range from minus 173 degrees Celcius to 260 degrees Celcius
- Experts assumed the Moon was another planet, until Nicolaus Copernicus outlined his theory about our Solar System in 1543
- It was eventually assigned to a "class" after Galileo discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610
- The Moon is believed to have formed around 4.51billion years ago
- The strength of its gravitational field is about a sixth of Earth's gravity
- Earth and the Moon have "synchronous rotation", which means we always see the same side of the Moon – hence the phrase "dark side of the Moon"
- The Moon's surface is actually dark, but appears bright in the sky due to its reflective ground
- During a solar eclipse, the Moon covers the Sun almost completely. Both objects appear a similar size in the sky because the Sun is both 400 times larger and farther
- The first spacecraft to reach the Moon was in 1959, as part of the Soviet Union's Lunar program
- The first manned orbital mission was Nasa's Apollo 8 in 1968
- And the first manned lunar landing was in 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission
This Moon trip will be a bit of much-needed positive publicity for controversial SpaceX boss Musk.
Just last week, the billionaire was propositioned by a porn firm to star in a weed-themed adult movie.
It came just days after billionaire Musk was filmed smoking weed live on camera.
The PayPal founder appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, puffing on a joint for all the world to see.
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The billionaire is also facing three potential lawsuits in different countries after accusing a British diver of being a "paedo".
Vernon Unsworth, who helped in the rescue of children from a Thailand cave earlier this year, was attacked by Musk on Twitter.
Musk dubbed Unsworth a "paedo guy" without offering any proof, and doubled down on the accusation in several tweets sent later.
The Tesla boss did eventually apologise, but later queried why Unsworth hadn't actually sued him – hoping to cash doubt on the diver's character.
Unsworth is now reportedly preparing to sue Musk – who has a net worth of $20.4billion (£15.6bn) – for defamation in London, New York and Thailand.
Would you like to travel to (or around) the moon? How much would you be willing to pay? Let us know in the comments!
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