[extropy-chat] Fly Me 'Round the Moon

[Russell Wallace]

On 8/11/05, Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> And nose-plugs. This is literally a two week cruise of three men in a
> bathtub. It would be enjoyable for one person. Three people in a Soyuz
> for that long? Maybe for midgets or Spike's legless women.

Yeah, I've a feeling anyone with a spare $100 million is going to be
used to more pleasant surroundings.

> I had seen the specs on this a few weeks ago. Personally, I'd say dump
> the upper stage booster. Refit the Soyuz with larger solar panels (as
> well as the logistics module) and a number of plasma thrusters. Instead
> of the upper stage, send up a refitted Russian lunar lander (the one
> sitting in the museum would be fine), and make it a real lunar mission
> for one.

That last bit is a contradiction, I'm afraid. A flyby shot where
you're just obeying Newton's laws might work solo, but if you're going
to do something more complicated like landing, you'll have to have a
professional pilot at the controls; there are too many things that can
go wrong otherwise.

- Russell