meve12

Alright, then. Not sure how lithium for MPD use is stowed, but since it's melting point is 180 degrees Celsius, I think you can just keep it liquid with the reactor( or even use it as the working fluid!)

So the length is meant to help with radiation shielding, as well as extra tank space? Also, wouldn't you rather spin it as a tumbling pigeon? That way you can get away with less Coriolis effect(and you'd have to de-spin it either way to allow docking).

Hardly useless. Armor is heavy because it's meant to tank explosive shells, and thus allow the battleship to remain combat effective for more than one volley. On top of that, KKV rounds seem to indicate using lighter Whipple shields rather than solid armor.

Your Kerbals are awfully exposed up there.

Maybe you should try making the Soviet version.

Are you kidding me? The Kraken's daughter is .... as all get out. Look at them hips! They're invisible.

I do use this pack. With the exception of the wet workshops(no way to extract crew, no CLS support..) its worth it.

Ya, precision landing's going to be tough.(Could have attached the lander to a rover, to help relocate. Too late now.)

Just gave this a test. Nice one all round. Is CLS support soonish?

Neat lander. Where did the engines come from?

Wouldn't computer uploading be a 2-way process? And if you're going to say that, stay the .... away from my HAL. Edit: stupid censure.

Oh, Ok. Musta missed that. Now all we have to do is sneak it past the Partial Test Ban. To tackle those in reverse order: 5. The ISS is already helping with that. 4. Point taken. 3. The ISS is also testing components for these, I think. 2. ...Darn it all, that is our bottleneck at the moment, isn't it? 1. Lots of choices for this. Certainly ion and plasma engines have been used on probes, not a stretch to think we'd upscale them for a manned Mars mission. 0. Liftoff!

More on topic: If the CSM is moved to a different flight, how much deltaV would the lander/booster have? You'll need enough to mount a Mars descent stage(heat-shield, parachutes, retrorockets...) And how big/heavy do Transhabs get these days? Because you'll need some more leg room. - - - Updated - - - More on topic: If the CSM is moved to a different flight, how much deltaV would the lander/booster have? You'll need enough to mount a Mars descent stage(heat-shield, parachutes, retrorockets...) And how big/heavy do Transhabs get these days? Because you'll need some more leg room. - - - Updated - - - More on topic: If the CSM is moved to a different flight, how much deltaV would the lander/booster have? You'll need enough to mount a Mars descent stage(heat-shield, parachutes, retrorockets...) And how big/heavy do Transhabs get these days? Because you'll need some more leg room.

Would solar-electric do, or does it have to be nuclear? Because we have working designs for sufficiently large solar panels, and none for zero-g reactors, as far as I know.

OK, thanks for the explanation. Although... ...if you're running a base, yes people are going to care about radiation. An oxygen "burning" jet would probably be better for Titan, because it can use fuel found in-situ.

I think a nuclear jet that didn't irradiate everything under it's flight path would be slightly more desirable. On topic: I'm not sure pumping so many different gasses through one engine over the course of the flight would be good for it's health. Is the precooler incapable of operation at subsonic speeds?

It sorta helps that these things are really, really hard to set off(with the exception of gun-type bombs, nuclear warheads compress the fissionables into a super-critical mass; you need all the explosive going off in exactly the right way or you spray weapon's grade whatever around instead of gamma-ray death.) Although NTRs as studied by NASA tend to put out a lot of radiation in operation, with no good way to adequately shield other spacecraft within a hundred kilometers.

Here's a more complete version. I may have taken some artistic license with some of the vehicles.

Here's an experiment... - - - Updated - - - ...Ok, so you CAN upload from devaint art.

Oh Ok. ...I think I can do a diagram like what you're suggesting. BRB.

I'll just point out that pencil shavings are made almost entirely of carbon, and are therefore very flammable. Not something you want collecting in the air vents.

Nice Plan, I say. A quick question: Why not have a reusable crew bus based on the Orion?(to elaborate: use the Orion as a crew bus, but don't have it reenter atmosphere; instead, use a Dragon V2 for surface to orbit and a modified Orion for a lunar ferry. Retain the heatshield for a quick escape option.)

Roller Bobs?

What in the name of Kod is THAT!? Also, Whackjob now has competition.

1,2,3. Agreed. 4. Agree with adding radiation, but you shouldn't lose reputation by using LV-Ns unless you crash them(In which case, yes, there should be fallout.) 5. Agree we need a life support system. 6. Needs more mechanics.