Calypso is a proposed spacecraft designed by Helios Aerospace to replace Phoenix as the prime cargo ship for Martian colonization. It will be enabled by the ability to reach Mars at almost any time, even when the orbital positions of Earth and Mars are not optimal. The specifications of this craft are unknown, though it appears to be larger than Mars-94 or Sojourner 1. As such, it can be assumed that like Mars-94, it is capable of single-stage to orbit flight from Earth.
It was expected that the ship would be launched in 1999 if Helios Aerospace was able to continue with Mars explorative efforts, though this goal was threatened by the failures of the 1994 Mars missions. It was thought by Dev Ayesa that the ship could enable a thriving colony on Mars with thousands of people,[1] along with the construction of a large 'Phoenix-T1' space station, larger than the orbital hotel Polaris was.
The Calypso vehicle was never constructed. Instead, the vehicle Unity was used to transport colonists, using similar nuclear plasma thrusters as were proposed to be used for Calypso.
Behind the scenes[]
The ship superficially resembles the real world StarshipW designed by the company SpaceXW. These similarities include the overall shape including fins at the front, along with windows near the nose cone, and being composed of steel. However there are a number of differences:
- The ship appears longer, possibly to contain more fuel or cargo.
- It is likely that this rocket is single-stage to orbit, whilst starship uses two stages (including the ship itself).
- Calypso uses nuclear plasma engines which will allow it to reach Mars outside the usual windows.
- The rocket has four 'wings' (which are proportionally smaller than that of Starship, which has two wings).
See also[]
References
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 3, episode 9, "Coming Home"