Question What is SpaceX lander contingency for elevator failure to get astronauts to the surface of the moon?

[JBUMAerospace]

What contingency does SpaceX plan for if the elevator fails? e.g. how else do the astronauts get down to the surface and back up?

 

[JBUMAerospace]

What does SpaceX say?

 

[billslugg]

The elevator to lower the astronauts 100 feet down to the surface is probably no more than a winch with a long cable. I will make a wild guess that something so simple and small would have a backup or two.

 

[JBUMAerospace]

Elon likes simple so that makes sense. Thanks....anybody else?
I also wonder if Starship is intended to return to earth's atmosphere and if the steel can withstand reentry heating from a re-entry speed of about 25,000 mph?

 

[billslugg]

Reading the Wiki article on Starship, it says they are fully reusable, use a heat shield to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, then land standing up. Here is a blurb:

"Starship's heat shield, composed of thousands[55] of hexagonal black tiles,[87] is designed to be used many times, ultimately with no maintenance between flights."
Ref:

1. Inman, Jennifer Ann; Horvath, Thomas J.; Scott, Carey Fulton (24 August 2021). SCIFLI Starship Reentry Observation (SSRO) ACO (SpaceX Starship). Game Changing Development Annual Program Review 2021. NASA. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.

 

[JBUMAerospace]

According to CNET "SpaceX and Elon Musk have big ambitions to send the Starship around the moon and eventually to Mars. The eye-catching stainless-steel spacecraft now under development will use a metallic heat shield, and that heat shield is already undergoing a pretty serious stress test " They blasted the metal heat shield with blow torches to heat it to 2000F. However, I remember (maybe incorrectly) that Apollo 15 's reentry exceeded 2000F ~ 2500F to 2900F max.

 

[billslugg]

Apparently the stainless steel tile cooled by evaporating liquid idea was shelved about 3 years ago in favor of the more traditional ceramic tiles.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hints that Starship's 'sweating' metal heat shield is no more (teslarati.com)

 

[JBUMAerospace]

I think that's a safer solution to the heating dissipation problem. But more costly in terms of repair and refurbishment. Thank you for the update.