In just over a decade, SpaceX has established itself as one of the most exciting and innovative private spaceflight companies. It has developed the mostly successful Falcon 9 rocket (barring a recent mishap), the cargo-carrying Dragon spacecraft, reusable rocket technology, and is in the process of developing an upcoming crewed version of Dragon, due in 2017.
But the company doesn’t want to stop there. Its CEO, Elon Musk, has previously claimed he has grand ambitions to explore the Solar System, including going to Mars. And now, Chris Bergin, Managing Editor of NASASpaceFlight, has hinted at a huge upcoming announcement from SpaceX, possibly related to its future ambitions.
"It may take weeks, or even months, to be announced, but what I’ve been shown is THE most exciting thing EVER. #SpaceX" he wrote on Twitter. This has, understandably, sent the rumor mill into overdrive.
If we had to guess, he’s probably been shown something from SpaceX regarding their upcoming plans to get to Mars. Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced on Reddit that he would reveal details about a SpaceX mission to Mars by the end of 2015, which may include something dubbed the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT), of which little is known.
Tease: It may take weeks, or even months, to be announced, but what I've just been shown is THE most exciting thing EVER. #SpaceX
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) October 6, 2015
On Twitter, Bergin quashed a few suggestions such as an EM Drive or the super-fast vacuum transit system known as Hyperloop.
Other possibilities include the spacesuits SpaceX has been designing for astronauts on its Dragon spacecraft (although that might not be worthy of the excitement in the tweet), details on its Falcon Heavy rocket, more information on its reusable rocket technology, or something else entirely. "I've told myself a trillion times not to exaggerate, but in this case, I'm not," added Bergin.
So, what is it? A Mars mission? New spacesuits? Elon Musk’s top ten movies of all time? Let the speculation begin.
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