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I wonder, is it science that limits our payload sizes or is this just modern bureaucracy that forces so many launches. My money is on bureaucracy.
by asciimov 3y ago
I wonder, is it science that limits our payload sizes or is this just modern bureaucracy that forces so many launches. My money is on bureaucracy.
- Veedrac 3y agoBlame the rocket equation for this one.
- pasttense01 3y agoIf you are not familiar with this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation
- jameskilton 3y agoYeah, this one is pure physics. It's hard and expensive to get off the planet, and even more so to get to the Moon.
- idlewords 3y agoHere's your culprit: Mtotal = Mempty * e^(deltaV/Vexhaust) If you work backwards from launching a couple of hundred tons from the moon, you end up needing all these refueling flights. Compare that to the 2.5 ton mass of the Apollo ascent stage. The rocket equation does not play.