Which earlier mission concept, involving a modified Dragon 2 capsule, was shelved in favor of the Starship vehicle?
Answer
Red Dragon missions
Before the full commitment to the massive Starship system, there was an earlier iteration of plans focusing on Mars delivery. This concept involved utilizing a modified version of the existing Dragon 2 capsule, referred to as the Red Dragon missions. The goal envisioned for this scaled-down approach was sending cargo or potentially preliminary elements to Mars by the mid-2020s. However, this plan was ultimately abandoned or shelved as the overall aspiration shifted towards creating a fully reusable system capable of supporting a self-sufficient Martian city, requiring the much larger capacity and capability inherent in the Starship vehicle architecture.
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