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Anyone have any idea how much less fuel mass a Mars Direct style mission might take, if it took advantage of the 'weak-stability boundary transfer' approach for Hab and cargo, with a separate manned launch to rendezvous?
Supposedly it's a good fuel savings, which would mean less mass to orbit. But is it really that big a savings, or are we talking something like 10% - nice, but maybe not worth it for the added complexity and risk to the Mars crew?
Probably the Mars crew would go around the moon and try to rendevous on the way back, prior to the final burn as the Mars vehicle goes past Earth - if they don't make it by then, they could break off and return to Earth orbit - so not a huge risk.
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