[SPAM] Re: [extropy-chat] Fly Me to the Moon

[spike]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org [mailto:extropy-chat-
> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Charlie Stross
...
> 
> This is still quite cheap when you compare to Saturn Vs in full-up
> Apollo moon landing configuration, which cost $350-400M per moon launch
> and had a very similar mass to LEO; that was £350-400M in *1968*
> dollars, so call it $2-3Bn in todays money...
> -- Charlie


LM PLAN EVOLVES ATLAS TO SATURN V-CLASS PERFORMANCE: Lockheed Martin has
mapped out an evolutionary development plan for its Atlas launch vehicle
that would steadily increase performance to ultimately exceed that of the
Apollo program's Saturn V, a company official said. Just as today's Atlas V
has its roots in the Atlas ICBM of the 1950s, the "future Atlas evolution"
will proceed in a logical manner, with each new phase providing simple and
reliable vehicles, according to George Sowers of Lockheed Martin Space
Systems. There have been 76 successful Atlas launches in a row. The last
Atlas failure was in 1993. The new Atlas plan is in response to President
Bush's January 2004 space exploration vision, which will require highly
capable space transportation systems for such demanding missions as human
flights to the moon and Mars. But one major tenet of the plan is prosaic -
ensuring an ability to capture the low end of the market. The plan stresses
creation of a family of launch vehicles for all customers, and building the
family from a set of common modular elements. (Aerospace Daily & Defense
Report)