Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now

On Jan 27, 8:05 pm, Einar <eina...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 27, 4:48 pm, Len <l...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Jan 26, 1:19 pm, Einar <eina...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, we've done a whole bunch of these complex robot landings, so a
manned one is not out of the question.

It´s actually not straightforward. Due to the thinness of Martian
athmosphere, in order to achieve sufficient athmospheric drag so that
the lander can slow down to a sufficient degree, a heat shield which
is bigger than what can be fitted within typical launch fairings used
by current launch weicles will be needed.

There are though two solutions that may be possible, A) Assemble a
large enough heatshield in orbit and then attach that to the craft
bound for Mars. B) Develope the hypercone - a type of inflatable heat
shield.

IMO, frequent, reliable, safe, low-cost access to LEO
will make assembly on orbit so logical, that direct-ascent
approaches will become almost laughable.

LEO is a very logical place to stage; we just need a
far, far better way of getting to LEO.

Len

OK, assembling in orbit will be much faciliated by reduced launch into
Earth orbit costs.

What about the Moon. I expect the costs of operating there will also
come somewhat down in that case. Still, it´s possible if somewhat
expensive to open up a research base the pryor to that coming to be.

Question then about the egg and the hen. They could begin Moon
operations, and the pressure of operations there might press people to
spend money on better launchers...perhaps.

What are your thoughts about the value of operating on the Moon?

Einar

My previous calculations for getting to the
moon and operating there indicate that low-cost
access to LEO can be disproportionately beneficial
--even without taking into account the use of lunar
resources. A proper look at the problem, or course,
would try to use the best mix of lunar resources and
low-cost access to LEO.

IMO, this approach makes direct ascent approaches
look ridiculous--which I have always felt was true,
even decades ago.

Len
.

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