What are these guys smoking?
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090106-space-shuttle-mars-flight.html :rofl:
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090106-space-shuttle-mars-flight.html :rofl:
What are these guys smoking?
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090106-space-shuttle-mars-flight.html :rofl:
I've always thought the lunar shuttle proposals were the epitome of silly, but this really takes the banana.
Sheesh. Boost 500,000 lbs of penalty weight to Mars. Does it have life support? Not enough. Does it supply power? Not enough. Does it have an aeroshell? Not enough. Can it land? Not by itself. What do we get for 500,000 lbs? Wouldn't it make more sense to launch the Spacehab double modules by themselves, with some hand-holding for power and other systems?
Sheesh.
:rofl:If he really, really wanted to use the life support, RCS, etc., of the shuttles instead of a separate module, the least he could do would be to cut the wings and vertical stabilizers off before TMI. And dispense with the heat shield, and most of the structure and other skin. And the SSMEs. And the cargo bay doors. And by the time you've done that, all you've got left is...
No return plan good luck finding someone who is stupid enough to actually fly on that mission.
The other side of that, aside from being one way and wasteful - the lack of gravity for 9 months could atrophy you dangerously when you hit Mars grav. (well, according to some research I recently came across, not being a Dr I can't vouch for it's validity personally)
I can think of many ways to use Space Shuttles to go to Mars, including mashing them up and turing them into dogfood, all of which are more plausible then this.
Just use the scenario editor.
[SIZE=2]
BEGIN_DESC
Shuttle to Mars!
With magical air-startable SSME's!
END_DESC
BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
System Sol
Date MJD 52795.0000000000
END_ENVIRONMENT
BEGIN_FOCUS
Ship Nexus
END_FOCUS
BEGIN_CAMERA
TARGET Nexus
MODE Extern
POS 2.37 144.74 -18.93
TRACKMODE TargetRelative
FOV 40.00
END_CAMERA
BEGIN_HUD
TYPE Surface
END_HUD
BEGIN_MFD Left
TYPE Surface
END_MFD
BEGIN_MFD Right
TYPE Orbit
PROJ Ship
REF Earth
END_MFD
BEGIN_SHIPS
STS-101:Atlantis
STATUS Landed Earth
BASE Cape Canaveral:6
HEADING 0.00
PRPLEVEL 0:1.000 1:1.000
NAVFREQ 0 0
CONFIGURATION 2
CARGODOOR 0 0.0000
GEAR 0 0.0000
KUBAND 0 0.0000
ARM_STATUS 0.5000 0.0000 0.0000 0.5000 0.5000 0.5000
SAT_OFS_X 0.000
SAT_OFS_Y 0.000
SAT_OFS_Z 0.000
; CARGO_STATIC_MESH Carina_cradle
; CARGO_STATIC_OFS 0.000 -1.650 0.050
END
Nexus:Nexus_Stage1
STATUS Landed Earth
BASE Cape Canaveral:6
HEADING 270.00
TGT_HEADING 095.0
FUEL 1.000
IGNITENEXT 0
CONFIGURATION 0
FAIRING 2 1.0 -68.5 0.0 3.0
CAMERA 0 0 60.0
SERIESBURN 0 STS-101 0.0 -3.3 -25.0 0.0 -1.0 0.0
PAYLOAD Fair1 NexusBigFg1 NexusBigFg1 0 0 12.5 20043.0 0 0.0 1.0
PAYLOAD Fair2 NexusBigFg2 NexusBigFg2 0 0 12.5 20043.0 0 0.0 1.0
END
END_SHIPS
[/SIZE]
Here is my proposal for a real Mars spacecraft (and possibly any other planet), using current technology.