4 ms·

Only if you want them to take no more than 18 months to arrive.. You can most definitely stagger supply ships and launch them at any time, it's just that some

Only if you want them to take no more than 18 months to arrive.. You can most definitely stagger supply ships and launch them at any time, it's just that some will take a bit longer than others to arrive and their various transit times can be taken into account to have them arrive in a staggered fashion.

lisper 8y ago
Well, sure, but how does that help? It's no different than having them arrive all at once and just waiting to open them. Whether they sit around on Mars or sit around in space doesn't matter.
- craftyguy 8y ago
  > Well, sure, but how does that help? It enables a continuous supply, without having to try to plan everything to happen all at once during a short launch window/timeframe > You can launch as many ships as you like during those windows, but you can't stagger them. Well, you don't have to only launch "during those windows". I'm no logistic genius, but it seems like it would be easier/more cost effective to loft resources towards Mars at intervals that don't depend on a relatively short event that occurs every ~18 months. Try collecting all of the things you need to go camping 30 minutes beforehand, vs over the period of a week/month before you go. Yea, not very effective.. ? Your comment I replied to above seems to be overly aggressive (that doesn't belong here): > You don't understand the orbital mechanics of getting to Mars. I'm quite sure there are lots of things you (or I) don't understand. Try being more constructive next time.
  - lisper 8y ago
    > It enables a continuous supply No, it doesn't, as I explained in the GP comment. > I'm no logistic genius Yes, that's pretty clear. > Try being more constructive next time. Try being a little more appreciative when someone offers you their expertise for free [1]. And consider the possibility that /u/kakarot doesn't need you to be their white knight. Just FYI, I used to be a Principal Scientist at NASA where I worked on, among other things, the R&D program that led up to the Mars Pathfinder mission. So while I never designed orbital trajectories myself, I spent years hanging out with the people who did it for a living. Yes, there are a lot of things I don't understand, but the fundamental difficulties of shipping stuff to Mars are not among them. --- [1] OK, it's not quite free. The price is putting up with the fact that I'm a curmudgeon. Some people think that's a fair deal. If you don't, well, no one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to engage with me.

lisper 8y ago

Well, sure, but how does that help? It's no different than having them arrive all at once and just waiting to open them. Whether they sit around on Mars or sit around in space doesn't matter.

craftyguy 8y ago
> Well, sure, but how does that help? It enables a continuous supply, without having to try to plan everything to happen all at once during a short launch window/timeframe > You can launch as many ships as you like during those windows, but you can't stagger them. Well, you don't have to only launch "during those windows". I'm no logistic genius, but it seems like it would be easier/more cost effective to loft resources towards Mars at intervals that don't depend on a relatively short event that occurs every ~18 months. Try collecting all of the things you need to go camping 30 minutes beforehand, vs over the period of a week/month before you go. Yea, not very effective.. ? Your comment I replied to above seems to be overly aggressive (that doesn't belong here): > You don't understand the orbital mechanics of getting to Mars. I'm quite sure there are lots of things you (or I) don't understand. Try being more constructive next time.
- lisper 8y ago
  > It enables a continuous supply No, it doesn't, as I explained in the GP comment. > I'm no logistic genius Yes, that's pretty clear. > Try being more constructive next time. Try being a little more appreciative when someone offers you their expertise for free [1]. And consider the possibility that /u/kakarot doesn't need you to be their white knight. Just FYI, I used to be a Principal Scientist at NASA where I worked on, among other things, the R&D program that led up to the Mars Pathfinder mission. So while I never designed orbital trajectories myself, I spent years hanging out with the people who did it for a living. Yes, there are a lot of things I don't understand, but the fundamental difficulties of shipping stuff to Mars are not among them. --- [1] OK, it's not quite free. The price is putting up with the fact that I'm a curmudgeon. Some people think that's a fair deal. If you don't, well, no one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to engage with me.