Parabolicarc has some notes from the interview.
Grasshopper – Spacex hope to demonstration high altitude supersonic liftoff and return — have stage take off, go supersonic and land with propulsion at landing site
Grasshopper is a test bed for recovering Falcon 9 stages for reuse
It consists of a Falcon 9 first stage and a Merlin I-D engine
Spacex hope to fly a demonstration flight of the Falcon Heavy by the end of 2013
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is asked about a rumored new project called the Raptor MCT (4:28):
MUSK: “Now and again, I just throw something out just for fun. I can confirm that the name of the engine is Raptor. I’d like to announce maybe some details about the engine next year. But, perhaps what’s even more interesting is the spaceship that that’s attached to it.”
Q: “Does the M in MCT stand for anything to do with Mars or Martian?
MUSK: (Laughs) “I have to leave a little. You show a little leg but not all of it.”
Editor’s Note: Musk said during a separate talk that Raptor is a methane engine.
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Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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