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Maybe there is a typo in the article then that is why this seemed weird? The first paragraph: > ambitious refueling demonstration, a technical feat that will
by nerdjon 2y ago
Maybe there is a typo in the article then that is why this seemed weird?
The first paragraph:
> ambitious refueling demonstration, a technical feat that will put the Moon within reach.
Again here:
> By the time NASA and SpaceX are ready for a lunar landing, multiple Starship tankers will take off from at least two launch pads to aggregate propellants at a depot to supply the Moon-bound Starship.
Then again here:
> On future Starship missions targeting destinations in deep space, like the Moon, this docking maneuver and refueling process will be repeated multiple times to give the vehicle enough gas to boost itself out of Earth orbit.
Another one:
> The results of this refueling demonstration will allow SpaceX and NASA engineers to calculate how many refueling tankers they will need to fill up a Starship heading for the Moon.
All of this makes it seem like this is necessary just to get to the moon with Starship which really makes me wonder about the practicality of this when later it mentions the possibility of 10 refueling missions.
Or am I misreading what this is saying?
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> All of this makes it seem like this is necessary just to get to the moon with Starship The Artemis architecture requires in-orbit refuelling to go anywhere interesting. (More due to the limitations of SLS and Orion than Starship, but I digress.) The Artemis architecure isn't necessary to go to the moon--Apollo had no in-orbit refuelling. We've chosen an architecture that requires in-orbit refuelling to go anywhere because it better scales to going to Mars.