LePenguino

Would it be feasible to have a spacecraft with a layer of enclosed ozone surrounding the crew module to protect the crew from the intense radiation in deep space? Why or why not?

I think you really answered this well. Thanks for clearing it up!

For the following, let's assume that a rocket can apply a constant force on itself, and ignoring the fact that it loses mass from its exhaust, it must therefore have a constant acceleration. If the force from the engines is constant, this means that a constant amount of fuel in the rocket is being consumed, and therefore, a constant amount of chemical energy from the propellant(s) is being released. However, the equation for kinetic energy is E = 1/2m(v*v). This means that if velocity changes at a constant rate, the amount of kinetic energy grows exponentially. This forms a conflict; if the chemical energy being released by the fuel is constant, but the kinetic energy that the rocket gains grows exponentially, where is this extra energy coming from as the rocket speeds up?

Yeah, I can see your logic there. Racecars are fun because once you land, there is literally nowhere to go except for an easter egg that can be hundreds of kilometers away (I think?) So it's fun to speed around, unless you build fast rovers like me, a.k.a. Scattering various parts around the mun's surface.

Wow.... these make my tiny landers look really bad. I can't stop looking at that giant roving base.

Wow, I never thought of using aerospikes in the atmosphere Genius.

Jebediah needs more struts.

If a planet or moon has no atmosphere for aerobraking, then bringing anything to its surface (and hopefully back home, which I'm not very good at), can cost a significant amount of delta-v. In my space program, I only bring landers or rovers to the surface of bodies (omitting the vast fields of debris from my crashes). I've seen videos of huge bases on other worlds, but I haven't the time nor motivation to build and land one of them. So, what do you bring to the surface of planets, besides the classic lander or rover? What are the possibilities/ideas?