I got a question about storing kerosene in a zero-G environment for extended period of time. Have any experiment been done to find if the kerosene is usable after several months in Zero-G?
To answer the question you meant to ask.. yes, kero is space storable.
I would assume that the 11 tonnes surface payload (from only 14.5 tonnes in orbit) would include the wet-mass of the descent stage. Otherwise such a high payload mass fraction (75%) is unrealistic. I think the current state-of-the-art (MSL) is less than 30%.There is also the problem of constrained PLF size on the Falcon Heavy. If the same ballistic-coefficient at aero-entry as MSL were assumed, then an aeroshell with a diameter of at least 9 meters would be required. The current Falcon Heavy PLF is only 5.2m in diameter.- Mike
"There is no question that this plan involves considerable risk, and a variety of missions, technology developments and testing programs in advance might reduce that risk. But if we try to do even a significant fraction before committing to the mission, we will never get to Mars. [..] If we want to reduce risk to human life, there are vastly more effective ways of doing so than by spending $10 billion per year for the next two or three decades on a human spaceflight program mired in low Earth orbit."
Edit: Also, Nautilus-X is a joke.
just plan with what we have and get going. Thats the sentiment anyway.
Quote from: Sen on 05/14/2011 06:33 amjust plan with what we have and get going. Thats the sentiment anyway. And the conclusion you (hopefully) come to is the conclusion Zubrin has come to: with existing technology (and economics!) the kind of architecture you come up with has massive risks. Not just crew safety but also mission risk.The general response to those risks is to say "we're going to kill the crew" and "this will never work", but some minority of people say "so what! let's go!"