On my goals for the weekend

I wanted to watch the video and write about the Mars-Venus shuttle idea.

With respect to the video, I watched it.  This is a must-see video if you have the time.  If you don't have the time, try to make time to watch it.  All of it.

If this doesn't convince you that we have a problem in this country, you are one of the lost.  I suspect many people in this country are lost.  Maybe irretrievably lost.  However, there are enough people who can be persuaded, or the Obama Administration wouldn't have to lie, as they are doing.

So, try very hard to watch the video if you can.

As for the Mar-Venus idea, it looks like a non-starter.  Even with a nuclear engine with an ISP of 1700, it still would require too much fuel.  As Ceres Mars shuttle would not have often enough launch windows.

Unless I can find a way to tweak this idea, it is dead.

Update:

Another consideration is aerobraking.  Both planets---Venus and Mars---have an atmosphere which can be used to slow down.  The slow down is a large part of the the delta-v needed to get from transit to orbit and back again.


Unless you can save considerable mass in aerobraking, the mass requirements are going to be too large.