[extropy-chat] MARS: Because it is hard

[Eugen Leitl]

On Mon, Apr 12, 2004 at 07:47:54PM -0700, Spike wrote:

> If we use Phobos and Deimos as staging areas, we
> could still park stuff on the surface and use materials

Notice that this is carbonaceous chondrite. Very different composition from
regolith, very useful elements (lots of carbon, organic materials and
volatiles, some metals, lots of silicate).

> from there.  The use of our moon as a staging area for Mars
> exploration is the wrong answer methinks.  

You're completely ignoring the "bootstrapping a lunar industry" bit.
No one is proposing to just land somewhere, and starts shovelling little
rocks and dust into the fuel tanks, and talk off again half an hour later.

How else do you expect to achieve a launch capacity of kT/s and above?

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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