The Space Thread - Launches, Events, Live Streams, Governments, Corporations, drama in Spaaaaaaaaaaaace

[Sam Losco]

Seriously. Humanity needs to establish a colony on the far closer moon before tackling the far more problematic in the short term but higher potential in the long term Mars. We need to have proven long term habitation buildings, hydroponic food farms, labratories in low gravity, EVERYTHING in low gravity working before tackling Mars.

VISITING Mars, absolutely we should do it and soon but Musk et al. are foolishly optimistic and begging for a failure if they try to establish a colony so far away from resupply and/or rescue first.

We are.

Elon not long ago said they are shifting to focus on the moon first since it's closer and easier and then focus on Mars. Apparently very recently he's talking about manufacturing solar panels on the moon and mining the silicon on the moon to do so.

 

[Pedophobe]

If we can manufacture space ships on the moon from lunar material that's a total game changer for accessing the rest of the solar system because virtually all the energy we currently use to go to space is just for getting out of Earth's atmosphere and gravity well.

It's a very big "if" though.

 

[Gimmick Account]

It's a very big "if" though.

I wrote a long napkin math post about Earth-Mars versus Earth-moon-Mars transfer costs and then I realised yeah you probably could just huck shit from the moon (like with a damn trebuchet now that I think of it) into an Earth parking orbit pretty cheaply.
Or even better, on an intercept with wherever you're going so you've got some Ikea assembly to do on the way.

I dunno about manufacturing the lightest fucking part of a vehicle there and expecting it to work better than calculator solar cells, but just making structural tubes and toilets out of moon-crete probably would be economical. Stuff you don't mind not being made out of space-age iso-laminate-whatever if it saves you a few percent overall and ends up adding leg room.

 

[Torque Wheeler]

I wrote a long napkin math post about Earth-Mars versus Earth-moon-Mars transfer costs and then I realised yeah you probably could just huck shit from the moon (like with a damn trebuchet now that I think of it) into an Earth parking orbit pretty cheaply.
Or even better, on an intercept with wherever you're going so you've got some Ikea assembly to do on the way.

I dunno about manufacturing the lightest fucking part of a vehicle there and expecting it to work better than calculator solar cells, but just making structural tubes and toilets out of moon-crete probably would be economical. Stuff you don't mind not being made out of space-age iso-laminate-whatever if it saves you a few percent overall and ends up adding leg room.

There's aluminum on the moon. And silicon refineries need a vacuum and environments with no contaminants. Maybe some of that stuff would be easier on the moon? I've read some sci fi and old NASA documents about using the moon as a pit stop. Your post too. Find more ice and you can make hydrogen to gas up a larger rocket that takes less fuel to break from the 1/6th gravity on the moons.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The zero atmosphere on the moon makes it easier to launch stuff too. You arent working with air friction going up.

 

[mlanguishi]

Everyday Astronaut's stream for tomorrow's Starship attempt.