tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post1362825089347531870..comments2024-03-29T07:19:11.970-04:00Comments on Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I : Mars and Moon Base GingrichComrade Misfithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15404477636451308763noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-11580779369934601992012-01-31T10:50:19.572-05:002012-01-31T10:50:19.572-05:00On that last, I can't disagree -- while compar...On that last, I can't disagree -- while comparatively speaking we're talking about peanuts, the notion of spending $150B/year for the next decade doing a real moon program in an era of political deadlock seems rather a non-starter. <br /><br />-Badtux the Realist Penguin (SIGH!).BadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-55563276966707505502012-01-31T08:30:55.132-05:002012-01-31T08:30:55.132-05:00What you're talking about, in essence, is Von ...What you're talking about, in essence, is Von Braun's plan from the early 1950s. But either way, every pound that goes to the Moon has to be lifted out of a 25,000 mph gravity well and be delivered down a 5,300 mph gravity well. Worse, any deliveries to the Moon have to be slowed down by rockets alone (unlike going the other way, where we can use the Earth's atmosphere as a natural (if dangerous) brake).<br /><br />If you have 250 tons of cargo to fly from Europe to Asia, you can fly it all on one An-225, two 747s, five DC-8s, eighty DC-3s or 10,000 UPS parcels. Somewhere along the line, it costs more to send it small.<br /><br />Whether it is Atlas V, Delta IV or Son of Saturn V, it is going to cost more to go back to the Moon than any one of those 536 short-sighted bastards in D.C. have the vision to commit to spend.Comrade Misfithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15404477636451308763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-66955186095725114082012-01-30T22:39:59.643-05:002012-01-30T22:39:59.643-05:00The thing is, you're thinking about a replay o...The thing is, you're thinking about a replay of the Apollo program, while anybody else thinking about going to the moon today is thinking more about the proposed Soviet plan that never got off the ground -- i.e., boost a bunch of unmanned modules into orbit, combine them into the final spaceship in much the same way we built the ISS, and then head off to the moon. The Atlas V is plenty big to bump cargo into orbit and the Delta IV Heavy is only a few brush-strokes away from being man-rated, so...<br /><br />So why didn't the Soviets make it to the moon? Basically, the computers needed to place modules basically on the dot didn't exist. So instead they tried duplicating the Apollo approach of one big rocket to haul everything to the moon. That of course proved to be a disaster because they started way too late and didn't have time to design an engine big enough, and the computer technology of the day wasn't good enough to cluster 30+ smaller engines and have the result be controllable. So in essence, lack of computer technology kept the Soviets from going to the moon. That's *not* a problem we have today.<br /><br />- Badtux the Spacey PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.com