Structure of the Earth easily than does the upper mantle (chemical changes within the mantle may also be important). The viscosity of the mantle ranges between 10 and 10 Pa·s, depending on depth. In comparison, the viscosity of water is approximately 10 Pa·s and that of pitch is 10 Pa·s. The source of heat that drives plate tectonics is the primordial heat left over from the planet’s formation as well as the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium in Earth’s crust and mantle. The average density of Earth is . Because the average density of surface material is only around , we must
ITS launch vehicle "evolved quite a bit" since the November 2016 articulation of the very large "ITS launch vehicle." A key driver of the new architecture is to make the new system useful for substantial Earth-orbit and cislunar launches so that the new system might pay for itself, in part, through commercial spaceflight activities in the near-Earth space zone. In September 2017, the new smaller design was revealed to be the diameter launch vehicle, referred to by its "code name" BFR, with similar core vehicle structure (carbon fiber), engines (Raptor), and Mars mission architecture; but explicitly aimed at superseding and replacing the entire