Author Topic: Boeing Statement on the Need for Immediate Development of a Heavy-lift Vehicle  (Read 70966 times)

Offline Proponent

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So let's expose some human tissue and some human-analog organisms to an actual cosmic radiation environment and see what happens.  Oops:  can't run that experiment anyplace inside the magnetosphere!  Maybe we need a research facility beyond low-Earth orbit, and soon.  Maybe a single heavy-lift launch could get us one.

There is the CRaTER experiment on LRO, which is a start. 

Offline mmeijeri

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So let's expose some human tissue and some human-analog organisms to an actual cosmic radiation environment and see what happens.
  Oops:  can't run that experiment anyplace inside the magnetosphere! 

Atmosphere, not magnetosphere.

But dealing with SPE comes first and there is a very convenient proving ground within spitting distance of the ISS: the lower van Allen belt. Well within the maneuvering capability of a crew taxi. It would also be an interesting early application of propellant transfer to exploration.

Cosmic radiation can be studied at the Lagrange points, which dip in and out of the magnetosphere, again with no more than a crew capsule. Docking with a cryogenic upper stage would be enough to get there.

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Maybe we need a research facility beyond low-Earth orbit, and soon.  Maybe a single heavy-lift launch could get us one.

It could, but that is a pitiful amount of traffic for an HLV. A capsule and a Centaur will do. Propellant transfer would be even better, even if it's just storable propellant.
« Last Edit: 04/25/2010 03:46 pm by mmeijeri »
Pro-tip: you don't have to be a jerk if someone doesn't agree with your theories

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