Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
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Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#2Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense.
mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to provide no benefits and be annoying (eg dust storms that obscure the Sun and blow dust all over your equipment).
The romantic view of living on an above-ground Martian city is no more realistic than Star Wars.
On a side note, laser propulsion is likely the means within reach of interstellar travel. If nuclear fusion is ever viable (and that's still an "if" not a "when") then it could be too. But if you accept that laser propulsion is the only or even just the best means of moving stuff around, it's further rason why a civilization will tend towards building a Dyson Swarm.
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#3Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
Mars has water and more “acceptable” temperatures, I believe. This doesn’t have to be a mutually exclusive endeavor. We can put a base on Luna and colonize Mars. Maybe the Moon is the stepping stone to Mars?
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#4Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
Well stated!
Humans can be surprisingly useful still, even if we are very costly to maintain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec%27s_paradox
I'm hopeful about artificial magnetic fields - modern superconducting magnets could do wonders in orbit with solar power.
Or here's sending ions from Phobos to do it: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.06887
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#5Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
The Moon has very little hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen, which Mars has in abundance. These are very important elements both for biology and chemistry. E.g. if you want to have a self-sufficient colony outside Earth, you could do it on Mars but not on the Moon.
Mars could be terraformed (in theory); the Moon never could.
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#6We must go to Mars, if only to convince people on Earth that there really is no second planet.
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#7Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
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Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#8Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
Well stated! Humans can be surprisingly useful still, even if we are very costly to maintain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec%27s_paradox I'm hopeful about artificial magnetic fields - modern superconducting magnets could do wonders in orbit with solar power. Or here's sending ions from Phobos to do it: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.06887
Even without superconductors.
If I was in change of a lunar colonisation plan, first thing I’d do is send up a rover with some limited ability to process lunar regolith — at a minimum into aluminium, preferably also PV. This rover would slowly crawl around the moon (doesn’t need to be the equator, but at least 5.14+6.68° from the poles to avoid being in darkness at the wrong time of year), leaving a fat conductor behind it. If the rover needs human interaction, it’s only a few seconds of light lag.
Once the processing has circumnavigated the moon, the conductor is already in a desiccated vacuum on non-conductive rock, so no extra insulation needed for that to be an HVDC line.
Then send some transformers and as much PV and industrial equipment as you want, because now the 14-day-long lunar night is easy to get through. The current going through the conductor gives you a free magnetosphere whose strength goes up the more PV is connected.
If you can’t build such a rover, you’re probably not ready to colonise the moon in the first place.
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#9Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
If terraforming is in the cards, stands to reason it would be first tried in our own backyard. Mars is the best contender for it. Actually it might be useful in other respects than being livable. The vision is far less romantic if you consider it a distant future project.
Re: Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion
#10Sure let's continue unmanned exploration of Mars but manned exploration let alone colonization makes absolutely zero sense. mars is nothing more than a further, more annoying version of the Moon. Similar gravity, less sunlight (ie further from the Sun), communication latency (~10 minutes vs 1.5 seconds), no magnetosphere (just like the Moon so you'll probably need to live underground) and just enough atmosphere to pr…
Mars has water and more “acceptable” temperatures, I believe. This doesn’t have to be a mutually exclusive endeavor. We can put a base on Luna and colonize Mars. Maybe the Moon is the stepping stone to Mars?
This doesn't answer the question of why you'd want to put people on Mars in the first place.