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CrimsonEnigma t1_iuocs77 wrote

And a spacecraft (the Crew Dragon cannot handle reentry from a cislunar trajectory, much less survive a Mars journey).

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seanflyon t1_iuoj714 wrote

As far as we know the Crew Dragon heat shield is actually capable of a lunar return, though that doesn't mean it could handle all aspects of that mission.

> “It’s actually designed for multiple Earth orbit reentry missions – so that we can actually do up to 10 reentry missions with the same heat shield.”

> “That means it can actually do at least 1 lunar orbit reentry velocity missions, and conceivably maybe 2.”

https://www.universetoday.com/tag/cislunar-space/

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stewartm0205 t1_iv4grkj wrote

It’s a starting point. Couldn’t cost that much to modify it so it could. You are going to need a lander, ascent stage and stage to propel it to the moon and insert it into orbit. It could be done for a few billion.

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