New Mars Forums

So without a manned space rocket or use of the shuttle and no other purchaseable rocket from other nations that we could use if we could pay for it. We are left to only two options of let it crash or to put up the cash.

Some good news may be coming out of the destruction of the rubicon.

Forks: National publicity brings acclaim -- and possibly investors' bucks -- to rocketeers building a new Rubicon
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited … tml/170414

"The result: A slew of investors have e-mailed the cash-strapped company, saying they are interested in making an investment in the partners' dream of developing space tourism."

NASA works on far-out propulsion plans
Aerocapture, tethers and atomic power under study,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5673239/

"The Momentum-Exchange/Electrodynamic-Reboost  Tether System, shown in this artist's conception, could pick payloads up from a reusable launch vehicle in low Earth orbit and toss them to geosynchronous orbit."

Granted this system is not from the surface but any reduction in cost from using free energy sources is a plus.

On the note of China Calls For Cooperation With US, Japan In Space Program. This is a very good thing in that it will defuse the military tension of a new space race.

Snipet:
"A top Chinese space official said China is willing to cooperate with the United States and Japan in space programs on exploration and finding resources.
During a briefing on China's geospace exploration program in cooperation with Europe, Sun Laiyan, director of the China National Space Administration, said China hopes to cooperate with nations who have space exploration programs."

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-04zx.html

More news on the Kistler which has announce additions to senior management team for Kistler's K-1 Reusable Launch Vehicle.

I think if they really want there rocket to be a viable option for going to the ISS, IMO they should design a manned docking capable capsule to go with the remainder of the work that they have done.

If the time of unit is right they could come out smelling like a rose as an in between step to the CEV that Nasa really needs now.

Some good news may be coming out of the destruction of the rubicon.

Forks: National publicity brings acclaim -- and possibly investors' bucks -- to rocketeers building a new Rubicon
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited … tml/170414

"The result: A slew of investors have e-mailed the cash-strapped company, saying they are interested in making an investment in the partners' dream of developing space tourism."

A nuclear reactor on Mars would provide the needed power for a whole colony of scientist but last I knew they where designed around heat exchange to water and by turning of turbines to created the electricity.

Since Mars water would be scarce at first and need much processing to get from the in-situ materials this would mean shipping it from earth. I have learned that it should not be liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen is serperate tanks. Cooling of each to stop evaporation not the mention due to the long journey metal fatigue of the tank. Can the water be shipped in its liquid form or would this require heating of the tank?

There would be many problems with construction of a reactor on the surface of Mars such as the containment shell no concrete, steel reenforcement rods and the list goes on.

If you read the link from the top of the page you will see just that.

snipet of planned repair using dexter:

NASA would launch a 12,000- to 15,000-pound spacecraft consisting of a propulsion module and an ejection module. The ejection module would contain bays for two new Hubble instruments as well as the two-armed android and a smaller version of a shuttle robot arm.

The shuttle-like arm would maneuver the two-armed robot -- a copy of which is being developed by the Canadian Space Agency for the International Space Station -- to work sites on the four-story observatory.

Also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or SPDM, the robot then would remove old Hubble instruments and stow them in ejection module bays.

The two new instruments -- the Wide-Field Camera-3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph -- then would be installed.

Fuel cell Bus should have been written Fuel Cell Powered Buses. In the same token fuel cell research is on the edge with using other gases besides the hydrogen and oxygen.

Sending one tank of each one at a time would be safe enough to do even full. As to shipping an empty set of tanks would it not be better to ship smelting equipment and make the tanks from the Iron rich Martian soil instead.

As for the rechargeable batteries send multiple battery packs to be charged by solar during the day followed by a completing charge as needed by the fuel cells or some other means to charge to capacity before use the following day.

The Mars society research site does have a vehicle that they are simulating such activity with. They may have some insight into some of the details still yet to be fully worked out.

You should be congradulated for the amount of work to which you have done, My hat is off to you.

Good luck getting a prototype built.

I remember seeing in the last say 3 months articles from either a japanese firm or that of a university with a more human like robot. That could be used if a stationary platform were made.
There was talk of using such a robot to do the more difficult replacement items that they felt a robotic arm could not do.

Robonaut human looking Robot astronaut:

Who should explore space, man or machine?
http://www.cnn.com/2003....ex.html

Robots come to aid of human exploration
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/04/1 … index.html

I remember seeing in the last say 3 months articles from either a japanese firm or that of a university with a more human like robot. That could be used if a stationary platform were made.
There was talk of using such a robot to do the more difficult replacement items that they felt a robotic arm could not do.
It was shortly after the Human versus robot should explore space article that I saw possibly on cnn.

Both yours and the other topic post are of Mars crew planet(moon) surface transportation and of combined lab resource availablity mix for mode of use, crew count and day excursion distance in mind. The easy of use and of capability of each.
Both can be presented together much like Earth current system. Each has there blurred lines of use or flexibility of use.