"Just Jeepin'" (macintux)
08/16/2020 at 17:55 • Filed to: Spacelopnik
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"Just Jeepin'" (macintux)
08/16/2020 at 17:55 • Filed to: Spacelopnik | 1
| 11 |
Interesting look at the technical, economic, and political questions around getting to the M oon in 2024, and whether SpaceX should be at the heart of it.
Short version: they could, they should, they probably won’t because pork.
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facw
> Just Jeepin'
08/16/2020 at 18:29 |
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May as well like to the op-ed they mention from June as well: Send the SpaceX Dragon to the moon
My bird IS the word
> Just Jeepin'
08/16/2020 at 18:39 |
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Still doesnt explain WHY we need to go back to the moon.
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Just Jeepin'
> My bird IS the word
08/16/2020 at 18:43 |
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Also politics.
But we do need to get back out there. Break’s over.
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facw
> My bird IS the word
08/16/2020 at 18:46 |
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Because it’s the gateway to Mars! Somehow... Never mind that it is neither “on the way”, nor is using the M oon’s tiny supply of water to make rocket fuel extremely wasteful compared to using water ice in the asteroid belt or elsewhere.
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My bird IS the word
> Just Jeepin'
08/16/2020 at 18:46 |
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But to what end? The money would ve better spent on fusion research, genetic engineering, ai/robotics, literally anything else right now.
Jb boin
> My bird IS the word
08/16/2020 at 18:49 |
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To have a live stream of a Tesla on the moon.
You know, the first electric vehicle on the moon.... oh.... well.... the first semi-autonomous electric
vehicle on the moon...
WRXforScience
> facw
08/16/2020 at 19:20 |
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The Moon makes sense as a fueling depot (well, launching Moon-made fuels to either one of the Lagrange points or back down to low Earth orbit could definitely work).
Asteroids are tough to work with since they’re pretty far away and we’d have to bring em back to LEO (low Earth Orbit) to mine them and use the material, so the asteroids would have to be relatively small. Small asteroids have almost no surface gravity so lots of process are hard to do on them.
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facw
> WRXforScience
08/16/2020 at 19:25 |
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I think you would product the fuel in the asteroid belt instead of bringing asteroids back here. Not easy, but materials are ample, and at least you aren’t fighting the moon’s gravity well.
Mainly though it strikes me as a waste of a rare commodity on the moon. Better to save it for closed loop systems instead of shooting it into space. There may be a better case for making oxidizers from more readily available materials on the Moon though.
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Just Jeepin'
> My bird IS the word
08/16/2020 at 21:37 |
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We’re spending money on those things too. Let’s raise taxes a little bit, stop subsidizing fossil fuels, and we’ll have plenty of money for science.
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My bird IS the word
> facw
08/16/2020 at 21:40 |
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And we alo need to get on mars!... For reasons. Science reasons. I hear there are aliens up there. Little green men or somesuch
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WRXforScience
> facw
08/16/2020 at 22:12 |
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Small asteroids don’t take much delta v (fuel) to push in by the Earth, especially since our Moon does a great job as a helpful source of redirecting gravity. Going out to the random orbit of the asteroid then going where you want is a huge delta v investment by each rocket that has to go out there.
Going in towards the Sun is like going down hill, going away is like going uphill. It’s easier to go downhill then slow down (if you’re ballsy you can use the Earth’s atmosphere to slow stuff down without extra fuel).
Orbital mechanics are very complicated and not particularly intuitive in many circumstances.