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They did it by not trying to land a huge fueled rocket on the Moon (on its tail!) and then have the whole thing take off again. The rocket equation bites you in
by idlewords 3y ago
They did it by not trying to land a huge fueled rocket on the Moon (on its tail!) and then have the whole thing take off again. The rocket equation bites you in the ass very quickly once you commit to a 1950's sci-fi style landing with a big silver rocket that you insist on taking home with you.
I don't know what you mean by more'capable' in this context if the system needs 20 times the launches and nonexistent technology (in-orbit refueling) to achieve the same goal.
- SECProto 3y agoThis is the answer. Apollo missions were essentially 6 stages (3 to orbit then TLI, lunar descent stage, lunar ascent stage, CSM). Maybe 7 if you count dropping the service module for reentry. The whole concept of starship only works if they can launch reliably a couple times a day