Re: Burt Rutans plans for a manned mission to Mars

"Alex Terrell" <alexterrell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

:There is no reason why the rendezvous should not be out of the
:atmosphere - say 100km up. Note that the space shuttle and ISS
:regularly rendezvous at Mach 25.

Note that this is all much easier once you're in an orbit and both
vehicles are essentially unaccelerated. In that case you have all the
time in the world to rendezvous with very small closing speeds.

Of course, once you're in an orbit, what do you need the rotovator
for?

--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn
.

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