Science lovers across the Internet are in a frenzy, after a teaser was dropped on Twitter about a huge SpaceX announcement coming soon.
So far, no official details have been released about when this announcement will be made or what it involves, so let's not get too hot under the collar just yet, but there are some solid clues out there that it may have to do with a SpaceX mission to Mars.
SpaceX is a private aerospace company that was founded by Tesla-CEO Elon Musk with the goal of making space travel more affordable.
In the 13 years since its launch, it's already made a huge impact on the industry, with the development of the reusable Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, and the Dragon spacecraft, which is now used to provide supplies to the International Space Station. A crewed version of Dragon is now being developed.
As with all spaceflight ventures, there have been a few high-profile accidents along the way, but the company has proven itself to be an exciting and capable contender in the space race. And now they have something even bigger to announce.
The hint that something new is in the pipeline for the company came from a Tweet sent out yesterday by Chris Bergin, the managing editor and founder of NASASpaceFlight, a news site dedicated to space travel.
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
— NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) October 6, 2015
For context, NASASpaceFlight has in the past published evidence that the "impossible" EM Drive actually works, and that NASA has found evidence of liquid water on Mars. So for Bergin to get this worked up is a big deal.
@NASASpaceflight And I've told myself a trillion times not to exaggerate, but in this case, I'm not. :-D
— NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) October 6, 2015
What's got people even excited is the fact that Musk announced that he would be revealing details about a SpaceX mission to Mars by the end of 2015, during a Reddit AMA earlier this year.
"The Mars transport system will be a completely new architecture," he wrote on Reddit. "Am hoping to present that towards the end of this year. Good thing we didn't do it sooner, as we have learned a huge amount from Falcon and Dragon."
It doesn't take MacGyver to put the clues together and make a bold guess that what Bergin was tweeting about is probably related to this same Mars transport system.
Bergin has also confirmed on Twitter that the announcement doesn't have to do with the EM Drive or hyperloop technology - which Musk is currently working on in an attempt to create a train that can travel 1,200 km/h.
As always, we don't know anything until we hear it from the organisation itself - or, in the case of cool new technology, until we've seen it tested by peer review. In fact, even people who work at SpaceX aren't sure what the announcement could be about.
@NASASpaceflight @garyrogers I work at SpaceX and I want to know what he saw :-) we have so much cool stuff cooking, I can't tell!
— Matt Simmons 🚀🛰️ (@standaloneSA) October 6, 2015
So right now, all we can do is sit here excitedly and wait, while trying not to speculate too wildly.
But I'm just putting it out there that if someone tells me that SpaceX has found a way to get a VASIMR engine working, and will be able to get to Mars in 39 days, I'm going to freak out. You've been warned.