Just wondering if anybody else has been wondering when/if we'll see a Cyber Truck in space sometime? More priceless marketing for Tesla for sure. Guessing it would need some major modifications, maybe a light weight version? But at least they've got the whole not needing air to run thing figured out.
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How long till Cyber Truck on Moon or Mars?
- Thread starter tander
- Start date
Not really. On Earth, air is required to cool the battery. On the Moon in the sunlight things overheat very quickly while in shade the cool very fast. So temperature control is a challenge.
The Cybertruck will never go off Earth. That requires an entirely different vehicle design.
I am certain that Tesla will build an EV Moon or Mars rover. Maybe it will just have a Tesla logo or sticker on it instead of an actual Tesla vehicle.
Hmm interesting point, I was thinking more about not needing air to power combustion.
Yeah maybe wishful thinking, maybe I should have posed the question as what parts from the Cyber Truck or any Tesla would be suitable for Mars or the Moon without major modification?
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
I would not dare to bet that Elon would not send a CT to the moon or Mars. But sending does not mean it would necessarily be operational when it arrived. I remember Elon at least once saying something like this. "I'd like to die on Mars, just not on impact." Would not surprise me that he might send one to the moon and let it bounce land. "Talk about priceless marketing"...
That's a good point, I guess it wouldn't have to be operational for good marketing value.
Any off-world vehicle is going to be its own thing, point designed for its operational environment. Some technological elements will no doubt be evolutions of current/future technology from the EV industry, but those are evolutions in the same way that pretty much all 'space stuff' is fundamentally similar to terrestrial technology. Even if there's some marketing blurb like "We used a model 3 motor" or whatever to stir up the fanbase, that's going to be 10 parts marketing to 1 part reality.
Put another way, there's nothing special or noteworthy about any part of Cybertruck relative to a future off world vehicle.
I guess I'd disagree to an extent, using a Tesla motor alone would be pretty meaty marketing. Stainless steel seems pretty practical too.
Sure, but again it won't be the motor in Cybertruck or any other Tesla so, again 10 parts marketing to 1 part reality.
I realize its fun to think about imaging a Cybertruck part on Mars or the Moon, but when it comes to a first principals approach, you're very much missing the mark by focusing on Tesla PR for a SpaceX off world vehicle.
For instance, a Mars/Moon vehicle motor needs to be a fraction of the power of a Tesla, needs to withstand the radiation environment, needs to withstand the FOD environment (fine lunar dust, for instance), needs to withstand the thermal environment, needs to be bolted to a completely different transmission, and needs to be pretty serviceable (or at least swappable) by someone working in a space suit. If I had to guess I'd also say a rover will have hub mounted motors too. Where they're going they don't need driveshafts, as it were...
At the risk of stating the obvious, there's no Tesla motor that will do that off the shelf. So while, again, many of the technological elements of the motor will certainly be rooted in existing/future terrestrial technology like Tesla is using, it wouldn't be a Cybertruck (or Model 3 or whatever) motor.
Also, and this can't be stressed enough, Space Exploration Technologies and Tesla Motors are two entirely different companies.
For what? Certainly not the skin of the vehicle because its pretty impractical there compared to aluminum, plastic, mylar, etc.
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You do realize it was not an actual roadster sent into space right. Calling it a shell is probably being a bit generous.
I hope you're joking. The Roadster was Elon's personal Roadster. Almost nothing was done to it except some nerdy modifications and getting it mounted with cameras.
Back to the subject of the thread. Since the FH Tesla payload has been mentioned, FH needed a large weight to loft into orbit as a test. That weight could be anything and is usually a big block of concrete. A vehicle is also a big weight. So it didn't hurt the test to use a Roadster to make it happen. It was advertising for Tesla but that didn't change what needed to be tested. Using a Cybertruck that isn't purpose designed to be a Moon vehicle or a Mars vehicle would be more about the advertising than achieving what needs to be done. I can, however, see the Tesla engineering and design team building a purpose built Moon or Mars vehicle and sticking a Tesla symbol on it.
So Tesla and Spacex are best put as sister companies, they are separate but they have the same Dad and will work together when he thinks it makes sense. For example the Roadster stunt was great (and great is a huge understatement) marketing for both companies. Neither company could have bought that anywhere, but if they could it would be for an astronomical (pun intended) price. So it seems pretty logical to put a cybertruck on mars or the moon because that would be like roadster x100, even if it doesn't make perfect engineering sense, or if it needs serious modding. And if stainless steel is good enough for starship...
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