Posted on 12/24/2014 8:54:36 AM PST by BenLurkin
The premise of a ballistic capture: Instead of shooting for the location Mars will be in its orbit where the spacecraft will meet it, as is conventionally done with Hohmann transfers, a spacecraft is casually lobbed into a Mars-like orbit so that it flies ahead of the planet. Although launch and cruise costs remain the same, the big burn to slow down and hit the Martian bull's-eyeas in the Hohmann scenariois done away with. For ballistic capture, the spacecraft cruises a bit slower than Mars itself as the planet runs its orbital lap around the sun. Mars eventually creeps up on the spacecraft, gravitationally snagging it into a planetary orbit
Can we shield ships and living spaces from cosmic rays sufficiently to prevent radiation deaths in astronauts/settlers and birth defects in pregnant women?
Perfect! Everybody simply has holes in their floors through which to dump garbage and waste.
This “slowing down” is exactly what happens in a transfer orbit. An object, whether planet or spacecraft, in an elliptical orbit slows down as it travels from perihelion to aphelion. If it’s making a rendevous with another object in a circular orbit at that radius, It will be overtaken by the rendevous target and start to fall towards it as they get close.
Be sure to take along plenty of supplies and a few decks of cards (no chips).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.