BFR * BFR is a cylindrical rocket with a diameter of 15 meters and ~30 engines. * Is constructed mostly from carbon-fiber composite (common tooling with MCT). * Has grid fins. Landing lags are smaller and more numerous than in F9. * Launches from a ground-based (not sea platform) facility on the east coast of continental US. * Flies low and slow, always RTLS. * Is not used for anything else than launching MCT. * Gets a proper name but individual BFRs will have only numbers. MCT * Is its own second stage. * Is a monolithic vehicle with NO launch-escape capsule nor any large deployable structures (like inflatable habitat, heatshield, skirt). * Has bilateral symmetry (even more pronounced than Dragon 2). * MCT's basic shape is a cylinder (15m in diameter) with a rounded nose cone at the front and a symmetrical heatshield at the beck. * Six engines (at a ~10 degree sidewall angle) are placed within two Engine Pods on both sides of the vehicle in the aft third of the cylinder's length. * The outer shell's shape is more complicated (more streamlined, more cool looking) than just a bullet with two engine pods. * Enters, descends and lands heatshield-first. On the surface stands tall and proud, heatshield down, nose cone up (but I will continue to describe it as it was flying horizontally, like a proper sci-fi spaceship). * Most of the zenith face of the cylinder is occupied by a long rectangular Shuttle-like Cargo Bay (CB) doors. The Cargo Bay has square box internal shape. The doors work as heat radiators in both opened and closed configuration. ** Pressurized or unpressurized cargo or a Crew Module (CM) is stored in CB during flight in the form of standardized square box-shaped containers. ** The Crew Module is partially an independent spacecraft with its own ECLSS etc. MCT provides energy and heat management. Various configurations will be used according to a type of mission. ** Any container (including CM) can be unloaded on Mars using a prepositioned rover, ramp stored in the aft end of CB and an integrated crane-like mechanism holding and lowering the container while it is being pulled out. * At the front end of the cargo bay is a small Integrated Pressurized Compartment similar to the Shuttle's crew cabin. The IPC is partially protruding into the Cargo Bay and partially covered by the nose cone. * The aft part (inside CB) comprises an airlock and a (zenith-facing) docking port. The front part is a cockpit with windows perforating through the outer shell of the nose cone. ** Below (towards nadir) lies a lower deck where most of the MCT's computers and other delicate instrumentation is placed (so it can be easily accessed even on Mars). ** IPC has its own basic ECLSS which can sustain a crew of up to 4 on short missions (LEO, cislunar space, Mars system) but not for the entire Earth-Mars flight. ** The IPC is connected to CM during a crewed flight and serves as a true bridge of the spacecraft. ** Most of the crew-associated equipment (controls, seats, parts of the ECLSS) can be easily removed for uncrewed missions and also easily installed back even on Mars. While the MCT is standing on Mars the IPC can be accessed either through CM or via its own airlock after climbing a ladder along the CB door's hinges. * At the opposite – nadir – face is a pair of doors of identical proportions which open into a very shallow Solar Panel Bay which is just a thin space between the outer shell and the propellant tanks. The internal surface of this compartment as well as the internal walls of the doors is covered in solar panels. Communication antennas, solar activity sensors and other equipment are also stored in the SPB. * The rest of the cylinder's volume is mostly filled with carbon-fiber composite tanks of complicated shape. * The nose cone is partially empty, partially filled with batteries and refueling equipment. On-orbit refueling is performed automatically via a docking port at the very tip of the nose cone. When on Mars the vehicle is refueled manually/robotically via a less sophisticated connection below the ramp of CB. * After separation from BFR the MCT reaches LEO and gets refueled by tankers which are simplified MCTs without CB and IPC. * During the whole nominal interplanetary flight, the MCT remains oriented SPB towards the sun so the solar panels are permanently illuminated and the cargo is partially shaded from the sun's radiation by the vehicle's structure. * At Mars arrival the vehicle performs plasma magnetoshell aerobraking to place itself into a transitional elongated orbit. The magnetoshell is projected by the vehicle itself, no additional structure is deployed. ** The orbit can be stabilized by a short burn if the vehicle is found unable to land safely. This option will not be helpful during the first flights but will become very convenient later when rescue missions within the Mars system become possible. * After completion of one orbit the vehicle performs the final EDL sequence using a combination of the magnetoshell aerobraking, retropropulsion and heatshield to lower its speed and protect the outer shell and engines. * Four landing lags deploy from gaps between the Engine Pods and the CB/SPB doors. * MCT lands on and launches from Mars using the same six engines in the engine pods that are also used for TMI. The only other engines on the vehicle are small RCS thrusters.