Could a modified Aircraft Carrier land on Mars?

[Godot]

If the martians can send a galley into space

we should be able to send an aircraft carrier into space

[Javster]

How modified are we talking?

[ZedNova]

The question is, why do you want to do that?

[Godot]

How modified are we talking?

As modified as necessary, but still looking like an aircraft carrier

The question is, why do you want to do that?

Because of those martians.

They come with spaceworthy galleys? We come with spaceworthy aircraft carriers.

This wil show them our supriority

[Streetwind]

Look up the anime "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" for all your spaceborne aircraft carrier needs

[Tiberion]

Next up: Can we land a modified Moon on the surface of the Sun?

[technicalfool]

Erm, what?

To the Space Lounge with you!

*PUNT*

[razark]

Can we do it? Of course.

The only limiting factor is how much will it cost, and how much of the earth you are willing to strip mine for resources.

[Error404brain]

I am not sure we got a rocket motor powerfull enough to get something in escape trajectory from the moon.

Otherwise, it's "easy"

[royying]

I think put a Helicarrier on Duna is lot more easier

[razark]

I think put a Helicarrier on Duna is lot more easier

Who designed that thing? From what I see, anyone that doesn't catch the wire is going to have a very bad day.

Edited October 12, 2014 by razark

[Nicholander]

So someone made a parody of my thread of a much more legitimate question. *facepalm*

[razark]

So someone made a parody of my thread of a much more legitimate question.

How is landing a shuttle on a carrier a legitimate question?

[cantab]

Sure. Cover it in heat shield tiles, do the deorbit burn, and job done.

Wait, you wanted it to land intact?

[Godot]

So someone made a parody of my thread of a much more legitimate question. *facepalm*

You mean with a more legitimate question

It is more useful to have aircraft carriers in space in order to project human power into space and conquer the other planets,

than to have space shuttles land on aircraft carriers. We´re humans after all .... the race after which the Klingons in Star Trek are modeled

Edited October 12, 2014 by Godot

[KerikBalm]

I think we're more like the romulans and ferengi

[Javster]

Who designed that thing? From what I see, anyone that doesn't catch the wire is going to have a very bad day.

If they get chewed up in the chopper blades, yes. If they drop off the end, they can simply pull up.

[razark]

If they drop off the end, they can simply pull up.

If they drop off the end of that landing strip, it looks like they're going straight over the blades. Those blades provide one quarter of the lift needed to keep that thing airborne. There's going to be one hell of a downdraft over that thing, and pulling up isn't going to be an option. Of course, once the plane gets sucked through, those blades are going to be shrapnel, which means there's going to be a serious loss of lift to the carrier.

At least the port lifter should be moved forward to give bolters a chance to not wreck the entire carrier.

[Guest]

What about the deck crew? They all wearing parachutes or jetpacks?

[Godot]

At least spacesuits I hope ... maybe a little bit unhealthy for humans without one

[Nuke]

Who designed that thing? From what I see, anyone that doesn't catch the wire is going to have a very bad day.

i dont really much like the design either. carrier operations are going to require this thing to loiter around at relatively low speeds. its going to be a sitting duck and point defense munitions are non-infinite (unless lasers).

i do like the flying carrier concept but i was thinking something supersonic that could be over any target in a matter of hours and then deploy a large number of fighters, drones, and guided munitions. landing a fighter on an object going at supersonic speed would require some pretty freakishly advanced aerospace engineering. because you are going to have to deal with all kinds of brutal wake turbulence. frankly i doubt its even possible. then how do you bring the thing down for maintenance, you are going to need to build mega runways or something.

[KerikBalm]

The only flying aircraft carriers that even came close to working:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Akron_%28ZRS-4%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_%28ZRS-5%29

^the hangar for this thing remained long after it was gone, and it was very close to where I grew up, I saw it very often.

Also of note:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FICON_project

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XF-85_Goblin

Edited October 13, 2014 by KerikBalm

[RizzoTheRat]

Is it worrying that I looked at those photos and thought "Ooo, a Goblin" before I'd seen the link underneath

The "space carrier" idea doesn't need to end up with anything looking remotely like a carrier, as you just dock your "fighters" to the mothership, or slowly drift them in to a hanger. And once you've built your giant space carrier you're not going to want to land it on a planet.

Plus mars doesn't have any oceans so one of the fundamental criteria for all current aircraft carriers isn't required

[Kryten]

The soviets used this successfully in the opening stages of (their participation in) WWII;

[razark]

The soviets used this successfully in the opening stages of (their participation in) WWII;

Yeah, but the Soviets would try to make anything fly.