ISS to the moon baby

[nyarlathotep]

>>"I wonder how large a light sail it would take to do it?"<br /><br />A perfectly reflective solar sail is going to give you a maximum of ~9 µN per square metre thrust, so the sail is going to have to be pretty freaking huge.

 

[brandbll]

If it's possible to go to the moon with the Soyuz why haven't the Russians done it? Or atleast tried it? And i mean only flying around it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>

 

[nibb31]

In other words, just because you have the capability doesn't mean there is a political reason to do it.<br /><br />brandbll, I suggest you do some reading on the Moon race of the 60's. This is not really the point of this thread. The russians were actively working on beating the americans to the Moon, but the americans had an advantage of a couple of years that was mainly because the russians had many problems with their N1 launcher. They had most of the capability of getting their, including the deep-space-worthy Soyuz craft and a functional LEM equivalent.<br /><br />After Apollo 11, there was no political prestige in the USSR being second to the US, so they denied everything, dropped the project, and started concentrating on LEO activities instead. <br /><br />

 

[shoogerbrugge]

They have send Soyuz around the moon, they were unmannde and launched by Proton. Check the Zond missions. Its only recently that they have shown interest in the moon again.

 

[brandbll]

Would it be relatively easy to do it? Like, low risk? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>

 

[brandbll]

I was thinking in terms of space tourism. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>

 

[revolutionary]

This thread points out one reason among many why the ISS should be abandoned and space stations constructed using the Bigelow modules instead.