S
samkent
Guest
If you look at the popular ideas on the best way to go to Mars, they all revolve around long travel times. But is this the best way? If you accept this method you have a large hurdles to overcome. Like..<br /><br />Long term food supplies. You can bet they would pack a lot of peanut butter.<br />O2 , Tank after tank. Doesn’t LOX tend to boil off?<br />Long term radiation hazards.<br />Long term zero g issues. <br />Unexpected medical situations.<br />Long term psychological issues.<br /><br />And I’m sure I missed a few. These are not minor things with a simple fix. Why not<br />avoid these things and tackle the main problem head on.<br /><br />Power<br />More rocket power!<br /><br />Ignore the landing aspect for a minute and concentrate on the outbound journey.<br />If you add up the unknowns needed to be solved for a 9 month trip it will clutter your mind. <br /><br />But if you put the major efforts into getting the crew there in a 2-3 week time frame most<br />of the other issues drop off of the list. Imagine this, Orion with a 3 man crew and a beefed up service module mating with a 4-5 section SRB in orbit around the Earth. It would be a kick a$$ ride for a couple minutes then a couple weeks coast. Rendezvous at Mars with a modern version of the LM for a weeks stay on the surface. Then dock with the return SRB , high tail it back home.<br /><br />6 weeks - flag planted – done deal<br /><br />More power! it’s the American way!<br /><br />I have posted this on another fourm but I would like thoughts from here as well.<br />