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90-Day Mars Trip Said Possible
Discovery News ^
| Oct. 20, 2004
| By Irene Mona Klotz
Posted on 10/28/2004 8:49:44 AM PDT by vannrox
click here to read article
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To: F15Eagle
I'm surprised you have Internet access on Gilligan's island - how's the weather there?
21
posted on
10/28/2004 9:16:50 AM PDT
by
expatpat
To: vannrox
They'd better watch out for these characters:
22
posted on
10/28/2004 9:19:58 AM PDT
by
MineralMan
(godless atheist)
To: vannrox
Sounds like it would be a breeze!
23
posted on
10/28/2004 9:22:28 AM PDT
by
Conan the Librarian
(The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
Comment #24 Removed by Moderator
To: sierrahome
First of all the Saturn 5 plans were not destroyed due to a treaty with the USSR. Boeing still has'em. A updated S5 would ideal for launching the components of a Mars mission into orbit, including, gasp...must I say it?...A NUCLEAR REACTOR for propulsion and power. With large enough fuel tanks (use water, not hydrogen) you could use a high-g boost (NERVA style) and get there in less than 2 years. But it should not be a land and run mission like Apollo. Land, set up a permanent base leave a crew to keep it running and some come back to Earth. It would also make use of not just one ship but at least 3. Dual use nuclear propulsion could be high g NERVA style and then switch over to ion propulsion using cesium as a working mass.
To: MineralMan
I recognize Kerry in the Center, and Breck Girl on the left, but who's that on the right, mostly turned away ???? (evil grin)
26
posted on
10/28/2004 9:29:10 AM PDT
by
Salgak
(don't mind me: the orbital mind control lasers are making me write this. . .)
To: vannrox
A team of University of Washington researchers believes it has found a way to cut roundtrip travel time between Earth and Mars by 95 percent, giving astronauts a much higher chance of pulling off a successful mission while minimizing their exposure to dangerous radiation. I don't get it. How does aiming a powerful beam of radiation at the spaceship minimize the exposure of the astronauts to radiation?
To: nuke rocketeer
With large enough fuel tanks (use water, not hydrogen) you could use a high-g boost (NERVA style) and get there in less than 2 years. Two years? We can do better than that with chemical rockets. Did you mean 2 months?
To: nuke rocketeer
First of all the Saturn 5 plans were not destroyed due to a treaty with the USSR. Boeing still has'em.
That is fantastic! I am basing info through info gained on the Science Channel special aired over the weekend on the Mars Landing. In the 1 hour documentary it was specifically stated that the S-5 plans were destroyed. Leave it to me to believe anything stated through the media. Thanks for the info.
29
posted on
10/28/2004 9:36:28 AM PDT
by
sierrahome
(Department of Redundancy Department)
To: vannrox
I'll be the spoilsport who suggests that with our modern computing power, we needn't send people to Mars.
We could do 100 sample recovery missions (accepting a portion that failed) for the cost of a single manned mission that achieved far less. Or ten unmanned missions for one tenth the cost of a single manned mission.
30
posted on
10/28/2004 9:39:07 AM PDT
by
Atlas Sneezed
(Your Friendly Freeper Patent Attorney)
To: DBrow
Hah! (BTW, didn't think much of the second book).
31
posted on
10/28/2004 9:48:30 AM PDT
by
CaptRon
(Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
To: F15Eagle
Can't resist asking where are you going to sleep tonight?
32
posted on
10/28/2004 9:52:22 AM PDT
by
expatpat
To: vannrox
33
posted on
10/28/2004 9:55:10 AM PDT
by
MRMEAN
Comment #34 Removed by Moderator
To: MineralMan
I'm more concerned that they'd meet up with one of these:
![](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/images/47batrat.jpg)
35
posted on
10/28/2004 10:05:27 AM PDT
by
Alex Murphy
(Psalm 73)
To: r9etb
There is, however, the minor difficulty of coming back the same way.... THANK YOU! A spacecraft with a solar sail does NOT work like a sailboat at sea. A solar sail equipped spacecraft can go in one direction - away from the sun. It can be redirected only slightly, but will always be moving outbound. You cannot tack into the solar wind and come back towards the sun, because you do not have the resistance of the ocean against the hull like in a sailboat. No rudder, no keelboard, and you are not displacing anything. A solar sail equipped ship goes out, and does not come back.
36
posted on
10/28/2004 10:27:16 AM PDT
by
wyattearp
(The best weapon to have in a gunfight is a shotgun - preferably from ambush.)
To: wyattearp
To be fair, the guys do mention the need for a "braking unit" on the other end. However, there remains the problem of setting the damned thing up in the first place.... Not the sort of thing you can just land and hope it works.
37
posted on
10/28/2004 10:30:37 AM PDT
by
r9etb
To: vannrox
Winglee envisions setting up beam generator on a space station that would send streams of magnetized ions toward the spacecraft's sail. I just realized something -- if the generator can send that many ions toward a spacecraft, it's going to get one hell of a push in the opposite direction. Conservation of momentum, and all that.
Wonder how they intend to counter it?
38
posted on
10/28/2004 10:32:07 AM PDT
by
r9etb
To: dd5339
39
posted on
10/28/2004 11:48:55 AM PDT
by
Vic3O3
(Jeremiah 31:16-17 (KJV))
To: Physicist
I don't get it. How does aiming a powerful beam of radiation at the spaceship minimize the exposure of the astronauts to radiation? I'm assuming that the radiation from the sun is widespread and unpredictable due to solar flares. The spaceship designs I have read about would place water tanks and batteries around the outside the ship to minimize the exposure to the solar radiation. The beam that drives the sail would be tight enough that the ship's sail could ride along it without any of the radiation hitting the actual ship.
40
posted on
10/28/2004 12:38:27 PM PDT
by
GEC
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