Karriz

Could be going to Texas test facility. The return to flight mission is either Echostar from KSC or Iridium from VAFB. I don't think it's been confirmed yet which one will fly first. But in any case the stages go to Texas first.

There's research on the radiation issue that goes both ways. This says that lifetime cancer risk would rise from the usual 12-16% to about 20%: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/1_NAC_HEO_SMD_Committee_Mars_Radiation_Intro_2015April7_Final_TAGGED.pdf For solar mass ejections there would have to be a water-covered shelter. Zero-g is another issue of course. I think the muscle loss is not that big of a problem, as ISS astronauts can stand on their feet after landing. https://www.quora.com/After-floating-around-in-the-ISS-for-many-days-how-does-it-feel-to-use-your-feet-and-walk-when-you-get-back-to-Earth Some other things caused by zero-g like decreasing eyesight may be a big problem for longer stays in zero-g, but for a 6-month transit it's not a show-stopper. Of course robots would go first, SpaceX's plan includes several red dragons and and at least one unmanned MCT landing before anyone sets foot on the planet. You have to send people at some point though, or not send them at all.

The first few missions will be very much about scouting I think. They'll stay for a couple of years, maybe build some infrastructure for a future colony and seek water ice and other resources, but it's not some kind of a suicide mission like you are suggesting. Radiation won't be an issue during that two-year mission. There will likely be some increased risk of cancer decades afterwards, but nothing to be immediately concerned about. Actual colonists who are determined to stay would then go underground. I don't think it would have to be much different than urban lifestyle on Earth. Buildings close to each other, some open spaces with trees and stuff. Occasionally you could go outside for a rover trip or something.

To be fair, he was being very civil at first and just stated that the mod wasn't for him. No need to get upset about that, or is there something I missed?

Thaicom was already late May I think. No indication that it would be the first re-launch of a stage, they already have a stage for that mission anyways.

Okay, in that case it'd work, if all that's needed for an impact is a small nudge, but such a scenario would be somewhat rare. You said " Assuming that all nearby asteroids have comparable velocities" in the op, by which I thought you meant similar orbits.

While this could work, wouldn't it be more efficient to just redirect the asteroid that's in collision course with Earth? You're going to use quite a bit of energy regardless. There could of course be some situation where some other asteroid is in a easier orbit to reach, and is nearly in a collision course with the other asteroid, so only a small nudge is needed, but I'd expect that to be rare. EDIT: In your scenario you mention a bunch of asteroids having roughly the same orbit, and one of them is going to collide with Earth. Then a smaller one would be redirected towards the bigger one. But the amount of energy that you need to add to the smaller asteroid is the exact same you'd need to add to the bigger asteroid in order to avoid a collision with Earth, if I'm thinking this right.

Reaching orbital velocity, even from the upper atmosphere, would be really difficult as the delta-v requirement is at least the same as when launching from Earth. It's hard to see the usefulness of a manned Venus mission, because the astronauts couldn't do anything other than sit inside their capsule. I really doubt Russians had any real plans for that. The concept that NASA released a while back just seems to have caused this idea that it's a better than Mars.

Well yeah, mostly the ships don't have to worry about orbits and delta-v because the have the "epstein drive" which is essentially a really efficient engine that can burn 1g or higher for months. They burn halfway to the destination, flip around and burn away the other half. It's technologically basically magic, but in terms of inertia and acceleration it checks out. The distance thing is a bit weird. I suppose the nearby ship is just assumed to have a fairly close velocity vector, and with the epstein drive catching up shouldn't take long. What I do like that stuff like artificial gravity isn't magic in this series, it has to come from linear acceleration or centrifugal forces. Being focused in our solar system is also refreshing, no FTL needed.

It's far more accurate than most sci-fi out there, in terms of physics. The hair thing is something that I'm willing to let pass, most characters have fairly short hair anyways. What do you mean the ships stop when they shut down engines? I don't recall such moment.

Very impressive, this could really lead into something big if they manage to start an affordable space tourism business. Also, they do have plans for scaling up the technology for an orbital rocket, but it would obviously be a whole new vehicle. Having the hovering ability certainly helps, which is something that F9 lacks.

While ESA does have some kind of a partnership with SNC, it doesn't seem like much is going on there yet. CRS-2 is Dream Chaser's best shot at actually getting to fly anytime soon. Maybe NASA will take the risk and choose SNC, since it's just for cargo missions this time. But most likely it'll be SpaceX and Orbital, both of which have proven designs.

Building up affordable space infrastructure should be the goal. SLS doesn't really help with that. I'm not sure why you hold such a negative view of space exploration. It's incredibly exciting and has helped to spawn tons of new technologies. And ultimately, space is the only place where we can truly expand. But I suppose this went off-topic, sorry about that.

It's supposed to travel 4 kilometers and is bigger than Opportunity, so it's not quite that flimsy. No idea what its hill climbing capability is though.

Isn't Falcon Heavy 50 tons to LEO in expendable mode? I know there's been a lot of debate whether that's the actual figure, but with the F9 Full-Thrust upgrade the numbers have probably changed again.