Elon replying to tweet about China's manned moon landing rocket.
Yes, I can see Zhurong's tracks. The orbiting camera has very high resolution!Zhurong's progress.
Courtesy of NASA's MRO, taken on June 11th. Track is clearly visible (in blue).
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It appears the latest iteration of LM-9 is now 2-stage, with no side boosters. Perhaps done for a possible stage recovery? It also uses new engines, YF-135, I've never heard of this. Don't know what will happen to YF-130
I would prefer a mission to Phobos, one of Mars' moons, rather than a landing on Mars itself. Phobos is expected to have a lot of water. If we can mine this water, the new lunar base (ILRS) would have a massive supply of the drinkable stuff, enough to support a truly huge base, and there would be plenty left over to use as propellant for future missions. Phobos is scheduled to crash into Mars; we may as well use it up.
YF-135 and 120t LH/LO engines are much more difficult than YF-130 and YF-90. If there is any trouble, it is the new engines.An iteration with a new engine? Maybe They have trouble with those powerful Y-90/Y-130...
YF-135 & 120t LH2 based on YF-77 probably more doable....
The new CZ-9 is called version 21 (2021). Let's call it CZ-9(21). It is two stage for LEO, but three stage for deep space.It appears the latest iteration of LM-9 is now 2-stage, with no side boosters. Perhaps done for a possible stage recovery? It also uses new engines, YF-135, I've never heard of this. Don't know what will happen to YF-130
here is what routers said@taxiya
Can you elaborate if it is a manned mission to mars in 2033 or a bad translation by reuters?