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Space Stations, Space Shuttles and Beyond - The Aerospace Discussion Thread
BenRG:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFAInterplanetary Transport System
Is it crazy? Yes. Is he crazy? Yes. However, I would argue that this might, just might, be the right sort of crazy.
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Basic technical power-point slides including a description of the mission profile and the projected performance of the engines.
pwhodges:
I shudder to think of the complications and risk of attempting to land a rocket on its tail like that. Also, the return and landing would likely take more fuel than was required simply to get into orbit, and this fuel has to be carried there and back again (requiring extra fuel), hugely increasing the overall fuel required, and the size of the booster. Then how many one-way Mars trips would be required to carry enough materials out there for even a single trip back?
Maybe it'll happen. Maybe. But I won't be around to see it - and I don't see it becoming useful without a huge leap in technology (and even the basic physics underlying it).
BenRG:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 28 Sep 2016, 02:02 ---I shudder to think of the complications and risk of attempting to land a rocket on its tail like that. Also, the return and landing would likely take more fuel than was required simply to get into orbit, and this fuel has to be carried there and back again (requiring extra fuel), hugely increasing the overall fuel required, and the size of the booster. Then how many one-way Mars trips would be required to carry enough materials out there for even a single trip back?
--- End quote ---
Sorry, I should have posted this before: There are some technical Powerpoint slides archived here. Bottom line, the ship is refuelled in Earth orbit for the flight out and on Mars's surface for the flight back (the latter being based on Dr Robert Zubrin's famous 'The Case for Mars' proposal).
You're right about landing on the launch pad, though; that's a huge risk. I expect to see that get quietly edited out in future revisions of the plan in favour of having more boosters ready to go for every mission. The returing ones can land on a separate landing pad and get rolled back over when needed.
Kugai:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx2aLvtIUII
Akima:
Nice 3D modelling, but that's about it.
I love the way they describe how the Alcubierre Drive "works" in the present tense, when it is no more than a mathematical speculation presenting many theoretical difficulties (that I freely admit I am not competent to assess). Regardless of the physical possibility of such a method of faster-than-light travel, I am sceptical about a nuclear-powered (presumably) spacecraft that is apparently equipped with no heat radiators, and is decorated with flags fluttering in space!
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