Between early review codes and EA Early Access allowing some gamers to dive 10 hours deep into Mass Effect: Andromeda, there are bound to be some details leaking out. One of the juicier (spoiler-free) tidbits comes early in the game when the main character steps into their private quarters where, on one of their shelves, a “SpaceX” model can be found. Some astute gamers are recognizing it as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, which will lift off for the first time later this year.
The Falcon Heavy is touted as being the world’s most powerful rocket which was “designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars.” SpaceX says the Falcon Heavy can hold a massive payload (54 metric tons) and will be crucial to the delivering of supplies and people to space.
Considering the crew in Andromeda are searching for an inhabitable planet to colonize, it seems like they’re holding SpaceX up as the godfathers of interstellar travel. When the player inspects the model, the Codex even gives a brief history on SpaceX (h/t Polygon):
After the historic NASA Apollo moon landings in 1969, the drive for crewed space exploration slowed as government funding dried up. The move towards cheaper unmanned probes and orbital stations gained traction instead, as one of the central obstacles was the expense of creating first-stage booster rockets that would be lost after each flight.
But the lure of sending people into the cosmos never lost its draw. In the early 21st century, a private company called SpaceX pioneered efforts in sustainable space travel by developing a reusable launch system. It revolutionized the field as the first entity, government or private, to successfully launch and then safely recover an orbital booster rocket intact, allowing it to be reused in future launches. Reusable hardware placed lower-cost, sustainable space travel within reach.
Galvanized by SpaceX’s achievements, a renaissance in space exploration followed. Reusable launch system technology later became pivotal in establishing the European Space Agency’s first permanent settlement on Mars, Lowell City, in 2103.
There’s also the theory (created by me) that Elon Musk is actually a Reaper, and this was all just a plan to get humanity to the Citadel so Commander Shepard can save the universe then be trolled by people who don’t like how things turn out.
(Via Polygon)