The moon is like a trip to the mall compared with going to Mars. The moon is 250,000 miles away. Mars is 35 million miles. Scientists have said that it would probably be a one-way trip for whoever made it, because gravity on Mars is so strong that it would be impossible to bring along enough fuel for them to take off and return to Earth.
Not "impossible," just really, really impractical.
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i don't see how he figures that. isn't the gravity on mars supposed to actually be lighter than what it is on earth, due to the lower atmospheric pressure and slightly smaller mass?
plus it wouldn't be much of an issue to come up with a way to store enough fuel to return home, you'd think. . . .
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Darth_Zod wrote:i don't see how he figures that. isn't the gravity on mars supposed to actually be lighter than what it is on earth, due to the lower atmospheric pressure and slightly smaller mass?
well, on earth the usually use these large primary rockets which are clicked off quite imediately after lift off. they´re not going to have these on mars, umless they bring an extra set.
Darth_Zod wrote:i don't see how he figures that. isn't the gravity on mars supposed to actually be lighter than what it is on earth, due to the lower atmospheric pressure and slightly smaller mass?
But twice the gravity of the moon and an atmosphere a fair amount thicker. The problem is that unlike Earth there aren't the boosters and such as employed on Earth.
Darth_Zod wrote:plus it wouldn't be much of an issue to come up with a way to store enough fuel to return home, you'd think. . . .
It would indeed since the Mars lander would need to carry it all.
Plan is, IIRC to send one on over first, unmanned, for the astronauts to use after landing. includes habitat and shit, and perhaps shoot off extra fuel from earth long before manned flights go. that way all the shit is waiting for them when they get there. Course, by then, they may only have to blast pieces of the fuel processing plant there, they can use the water-ice at the poles to make new fuel. Seems that would be the best way, anyway, to just blast umanned shit there first, then asses (Astronauts) use it after arrival in conjunction with their habitat on the lander (Use lander habitat while setting up the bigger, more advanced prefab shit waiting for them, then transfer to there while doing experiments and junk. Just my two peter schillings.
Its doable, can take us to the Moon too, and you don't have to build your ship in space, which is nice.
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I think of all that money. There are so many things we need to do here at home. Space exploration hasn't produced much for us except some good pictures.
Clearly the solution is some form of gargantuan howitzer/anti Bolo weapon
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I agree with SS. When we finish the space elevator, why not build the spaceship on top of it, then when the appropriate spot is reached, just detach the ship, useing the earth's rotation to "Fling" it to Mars. 14,000 MPH boost! Woot!
Chardok wrote:I agree with SS. When we finish the space elevator, why not build the spaceship on top of it, then when the appropriate spot is reached, just detach the ship, useing the earth's rotation to "Fling" it to Mars. 14,000 MPH boost! Woot!
I think there was a plan like that for moon travel, using gigantic cables.
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Color me a cynic. To get a man on Mars and back again is so utterly impractical as to be a pointless exercise with our current technology. Maybe in 2040-2050.
Its doable, can take us to the Moon too, and you don't have to build your ship in space, which is nice.
That was quite a good book. A few years ago, I programmed an interactive mission to mars kiosk based on it. If you're ever up in Vancouver, you can stop by the HR Macmillian Space Centre to check it out.
Its doable, can take us to the Moon too, and you don't have to build your ship in space, which is nice.
