GoSlash27

Recovery of my first orbital flight in this run. It would've been a lot less sketchy had I realized that I had already unlocked the decoupler. My science after 34 minutes into the run. I'm rusty, but I still remember I'm pushing hard for the basic flight stuff. Best, -Slashy

I suppose "Once more unto the breach, dear friends"

I must be misunderstanding you. You're saying you achieved low Kerbin orbit while expending only 2,500 m/sec DV? Best, -Slashy

Missingno200, The problem with that plan is that there's no technological advancement that's going to save you if you're stranded in the middle of a desert with no water. Humans need a long laundry list of elements and compounds to survive, and those simply don't exist on Mars. Humans live as a part of a mind-bogglingly huge and intricate biosphere, and a suitably sized *complete* biosphere must be transported there in order to sustain even a small human presence. Until it's self- sustaining, we're talking about an outpost, not a colony. As long as it's an outpost, it's a liability rather than an asset. Moreover, as long as there are no marketable commodities on Mars, there's no fiscal basis for supporting a colony there. NASA, ESA, Roscosmos and all the rest are left on the hook to spend their budgets supporting a colony on a far away planet that provides nothing instead of using their funding for science. This is not a trivial matter. The top of Mt. Everest is a far more habitable place than the surface of Mars, yet nobody lives up there because there's no benefit to it. People spend a lot of money and effort to visit... but they don't establish a settlement. Musk hasn't given serious thought to any of this, but hey... it's his money so what the heck. *shrug* Best, -Slashy

Well- stated! The elephant in the room is the fact that a colony that is not 100% self sustained is a "colony" in name only. Its life expectancy is roughly 2 weeks longer than Earth's unless you can transplant an entire ecosystem to Mars. Still, I admire his accomplishments and motivation to achieve his goal, even if I don't personally agree with the goal. Best, -Slashy

Dr. Kerbal, You could try modeling that in the VAB. I seriously doubt that it'd outperform a Boar, Mk.3 large rocket fuel tank, and a command pod tho'. It's basically trading away 50t of fuel for roughly twice the Isp and 2t additional mass. Best, -Slashy

That's probably because no 'leader' is ever motivated by the will to serve, but rather the will to rule. Best, -Slashy

swjr-swis, No, not at all. The Starship should be fully reusable, it should just remain in orbit. It's like the lunar orbit rendezvous question back in the Apollo days; it makes no sense to send the entire CM down to the surface only to launch it again. Conversely, if they want to send it down to the surface it should remain there as infrastructure rather than using it as a return vehicle. HTHs, -Slashy

I'm sure some of it is. My main practical gripe about SpaceX's plan for Mars is this: It's silly and wasteful to place an entire Starship on the surface of Mars unless you plan on keeping it there. Better to use it to aerocapture, then disgorge a single stage lander. The payload to the surface would actually increase, thus the cost per mass would decrease. Best, -Slashy

A lot of things that were previously deemed "impossible" literally were impossible at the time. They only became possible due to new parts and changes in the game design. Likewise, there were many feats back in the day that can't be accomplished now for the same reasons. Best, -Slashy

You could always create a simple spreadsheet to run the vis-viva and hyperbolic velocity calculations, then write down the answers. That's how the original subway map was created, with rounding up to the nearest 10 m/sec. I created my own calculator years ago for the same purpose; I often need to plan burns that don't appear on the subway map. Best, -Slashy

True It's not often that you hear someone argue so vociferously about a subject he's spent absolutely no time researching. AFA "it depends on world view", I disagree. Subsidization has an actual definition. The fact that some people hold an erroneous belief doesn't make it any less erroneous. Best, -Slashy

I don't really consider expansion parts to be "stock". YMMV. Best, -Slashy

If it does add any credence, it's only marginal. SpaceX, like any other commercial launch provider, performs a service. The government doesn't "subsidize" them, they pay for their services just like the rest of their customers. If I'm supposed to be angry because the government chooses to employ the services of the cheapest and most reliable contractor (for a change)... Well... That's a tough sell. I'm more likely to get upset about Boeing or the SLS. Best, -Slashy

It depends entirely on how much of your mothership is fuel. That percentage will be determined by other design considerations, such as how low an acceleration rate you're willing to put up with and how much mass you're willing to launch into orbit. Sorry, no simple direct answers on this one. Best, -Slashy

The optimal 3 part rocket would have less than half the DV required for any of these profiles. It would definitely take multiple flybys to do it. Best, -Slashy

I disagree. I think *most* here are simply reasoning on a topic, but not all. Some are just fanboying about their favorite system and looking to fight with someone about which is "superior". I see no point in it, other than perhaps ego stroking. Best, -Slashy

fourfa, True. If you invoke gravity assists, there's pretty much nowhere you can't go. Best, -Slashy

I'm not aware of any chemical bipropellant that can achieve 700s specific impulse even theoretically, let alone with enough thrust to lift anything. I'd say that unless you invoke some kind of unobtainium propulsion system, 700s *is* a bit much. Best, -Slashy

Sure they do, as do yours. The hours on your clock are base 12, the seconds base 60. Your spreadsheet can convert to it. Point is, regardless of what base you input and output your numbers, the computer still must convert it to hex before it can process it. There is nothing uniquely easy or difficult about whichever base you choose if it's not a power of 2. Best, -Slashy And I keep telling you: It's not up to me and nobody in charge of such decisions gives a flip what either of us think about it. So why do you keep trying to argue about it with me?

Thanks, Just decided to see what's new since the update. Can't promise I'll stick around Best, -Slashy

The launch providers don't, nor do the aerospace contractors who build the payloads. Contrary to popular belief, this duality has not kept the USA stuck in the technological stone ages.

That's all software, not hardware. You can set up software to run in any arbitrary base, whether it's decimal, dodecimal, or even sexagecimal. Case in point: your phone is able to display the time, it has no problem figuring out base 12 *or* base 60. Not "unnatural" at all. And I still don't understand why you're arguing with me.

I have no idea why you're arguing about this here, especially with me, given the fact that I have absolutely no authority over America's units of weight and measures. *shrug* You're incorrect, BTW. #1 Imperial doesn't require the ability to count in base 12 and #2 Computers actually prefer binary or hex, not decimal. Best, -Slashy

Well... We can analyze that a bit with math. You gotta have an engine, so that's one part. You gotta have a fuel tank, so that's two... unless you run the Twin Boar. You need control, which is another part. If you use a probe core in order to minimize mass, then you need comms as well. If you make it manned, you don't need comms, but mass won't be ideal. Looking at the twin- boar, it can generate an absolute maximum 4,114 m/sec of DV from the pad. Figure 3,400 m/sec to orbit. That leaves 714 m/sec, nowhere near enough to reach the Mun, let alone Eeloo. If you use the biggest tank in the game as your second part, that leaves a hair over 5 km/sec, or 1,700 m/sec from orbit. That's barely enough (in theory) to make Moho, but nowhere near enough to make Eeloo. So no. You can't get to Eeloo with just 3 parts. Best, -Slashy