[ExI] Eyes on the Solar System

[spike at rainier66.com]

...> On Behalf Of Stuart LaForge via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] Eyes on the Solar System


Quoting Spike,

-----Original Message-----
> From: spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> ...
>
>> ...On second thought, Stuart, scratch that.  The irony of using a 
>> hydrogen first stage to lift a kerosene final stage, oh that is killing
me...

>...Nothing to be embarrassed about, Spike. Hydrogen is the most abundant
element in the universe and if we, as a civilization, want to climb the
Kardashev Scale and reach the stars, then we will have to master the
collection, storage, and applications of hydrogen...

Ja, but we are nowhere near having the technology to collect the stuff on
orbit nor to hang onto it for 17 months (which is the time from leaving
Earth orbit to Earth orbit insertion.  It needs to be a storable propellant
and oxidizer.


>...Hydrazine is toxic, unstable, and nasty but it seems to be a reasonable
way to store hydrogen... Stuart LaForge

Ja, that hydrazine/nitric acid combination is standard current technology
for satellites which need to have a re-entry burn possibly years after
launch.  It is the only one I can see as practical for a Mars mission.  It's
ugly Stuart, just butt ugly.

spike