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Originally Posted by Sticks
Have a bit of time on my hands so bring back this thread.
When the Shuttle gets back in opperation, I understand the plan was to continue building the ISS in orbit.
Would it make sense, should they still be intent on returning to the moon, to have the Translunar vehicle built in orbit, and crew transfering to it from a shuttle.
But then we still have the braking issues to contend with as we go from one gravity well to another.  |
Perhaps you are psyhic.
I was gunna post about this yesterday and totally forgot.
I don't recall if it was discussed or not, but I was thinking that the best way would be a three stage stage system.
By building a base on the moon (we can send the materials in packets and the crew in a similar way to Apollo to start with) and building up the IIS including Hangers for Earth/Moon Shuttles, we could run a shuttle from the IIS to a lunar orbit. A Lander would then lift off from the moon dock with the shuttle and once it has on board whatever is going down it could undock and land while the shuttle returns to the IIS. Crews on the IIS and Moon would be responsible for keeping the shuttles and landers going, with their construction and maintenance a good step towards building a ship for travel and exploration of Mars. By building Hangers it would allow a craft to be taken inside the IIS and refitted after each run while others where making their runs. The shuttle or its successor would be the means of trnsport to the IIS. The Moon/ISS shuttle could be purpose built so it would not need to suffer from the troubles of trying to get the Space Shuttle to the moon, and so would the Lander at the Moon Base, though it could probably be modelled off the ideas behind the LM or Delta Clipper for the most part.
What do you think? Jay, any major problems I didn't notice?