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He gives a comparison estimate that each Saturn V cost about 10^8 each. Per quick Google search actual cost in 1970s dollars was $185m which is $1.15b today: ht
by TrainedMonkey 5y ago
He gives a comparison estimate that each Saturn V cost about 10^8 each. Per quick Google search actual cost in 1970s dollars was $185m which is $1.15b today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V#Cost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V#Cost
(important, but unrelated to rest of computation fact is that this cost was amortized over 35 flights)
10^11 is 1000 * 10^8, applying same inflation to 10^11 we get $1.15t. To put this number in a context, Iraq war is estimated to have long term cost of $1.1tn to $1.92tn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War
- m4rtink 5y agoIf SpaceX Starship can get going as planned (eq. fully & rapidly reusable orbital transport) it should be possible to slash the costs of launch for big proposals like this quite significantly.
- andyxor 5y agoexactly, all these old estimates need to be revised in SpaceX era. We are living in unprecedented times when a private company does something that was previously only possible with global superpower resources.
- maxerickson 5y agoThe proposal is a 5 million ton, 10 km shell of copper fueled by 30 million hydrogen bombs. Cost to orbit isn't particularly relevant (it would easily be optimized as part of the decades long project).
- nomoreplease 5y agoI’ve heard of nuclear bomb propulsion before but I had no idea that 30 million hydrogen bombs we’re proposed. That’s insane!
- m4rtink 5y agoAnd do you know what's more insane (and even more cool!) - Nuclear Salt Water Rocket! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_salt-water_rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_salt-water_rocket Riding a continuous nuclear explosion for fun and profit! :D