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https://old.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/1fbs7it/elon_musk_the_first_starships_to_mars_will_launch/
!spacechads !ifrickinglovescience this is all the infamous "Elon time" but SpaceX will attempt uncrewed Starship flights to Mars in the next launch window (2026), to test landing capabilities. Late 2030s would be a more realistic estimate for crewed missions but it would still be cool 
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If they can land a rocket there in 2026/2027 that would be incredible. Seems unlikely they'd get everything right so it could take off again but maybe on the next window or two they can get something going.
It'll be neat to have a bunch of actual Martian rock samples like we got from the Moon from the Apollo missions.
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For a 2026 attempt they must first have a successful orbital mission (landing in one piece) and have tested orbital refueling. Starship can't leave earth's orbit without refueling so they have 2 years to test all of that. Even if they blow up landing on Mars it will still be a huge achievement and it could make the Mars Sample Return mission feasible again (the costs ballooned and NASA doesn't have the money to go ahead with current plans).
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Do you think they'll attempt a rocket landing on the Moon first then? Presumably it wouldn't give them a whole lot of data for a Mars landing because Mars has way more gravity, a (thin) atmosphere, and substantially different surface composition (especially in terms of compaction). But I'd love to see a full lunar landing as well.
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As a prelude for the Mars tests? I don't think so, the lunar starship has a different retro-propulsion design to the one that will be used on Mars
And as you said, conditions are too different on the Moon. Though they have to test the Lunar Starship as it is part of their Artemis Program HLS contract, so maybe the first uncrewed lunar starship could be ready in a couple of years.
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do u wanna go to the moon w/ me in 10 years when they've got the kinks worked out?
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Sure
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Get a moon you two
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