billvon 3,121 #26 October 27, 2003 >Yes, we could do it now. Check out the costs. I like Zubrin's idea. Don't have the government pay for the work. Have an award (say, 100 billion) for the first company to put someone on Mars and return them. Break it down incrementally if you want - 20 billion for an HLLV, 40 billion for the landing itself, 10 billion if they accomplish scientific objectives X Y and Z, 10 billion if they do it before 2015 etc. A Boeing/Northrup team could pull off such a task much more efficiently than the government could, at the cost of one medium-sized war. >good book - THE ORION PROJECT - describes some of the research >on nuclear propulsion done way back when. Quite interesting >reading. Daedalus seemed to make more sense than Orion to me. Building thousands of nuclear bombs to power a spacecraft has some obvious proliferation issues, whereas assembling thousands of deuterium pellets seems both easier and safer. And your Isp is an order of magnitude better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkvapor 0 #27 October 28, 2003 Not So Fast, Lawmakers Say of Plans for a Space Plane http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/politics/28ORBI.html?ex=1067922000&en=3b0298372eeede0e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE Thank you NYTimes for proving my point. Quoteit was premature to go ahead with the craft without knowing how it might fit into national goals for human spaceflight 20 years ago, it was the loftiest and most noble of causes to explore space and to move beyond the bounds of the earth. Today, even with all of the technological advances we've made, it is not a "national goal"... That's like after discovering fire and all of its benefits.. then getting your hand burned, and saying.. 'let's go back to eating raw meat... '... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheAnvil 0 #28 October 28, 2003 I agree on principle but disagree on your cost estimates - they're way low. I mean WAY low. I don't even think you'd get the necessary infrastructure on that scale regardless of who did it, regardless of your cost model. X-prize is a good concept though. I think it will be won in the next 18 months too. That was a damned good book on the orion project. Really interesting reading. It has TheAnvil seal of approval.Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
