The Nuclear Rocket revisited, Part IV

I hit a brick wall the first time through on page 82, as I recall.

Also, I may be boring people to death with this discussion.  Sorry, it goes with the territory.  If this bores you, you will have to go elsewhere.

I want to summarize what I've gotten from the book, just in case I want to write a review of it on Amazon.

• Chemical rockets are forever inadequate.  It is implied in the rocket equations.
• NASA had to know this and so did policy makers.  They are content with make-work projects that don't accomplish anything really.  People shouldn't get starry eyed about what the government can do.  Unfortunately, Dewar himself may be expecting too much of human nature.
• The book challenges your assumptions.  If you are set in your ways of thinking, this book isn't for you.  If you like thought provoking ideas, this book could be stimulating.  It's worth reading and studying, whether you agree with the ideas or not.

A quickie observation here to add with the rest listed above.  Dewar doesn't consider in situ resourcing.  Actually, if most of the problem is in the energy necessary to get out of the Earth's deep gravity well, it behooves us not to keep on doing that, but to launch permanent infrastructure into space instead.  That includes means of getting hydrogen from the moon and asteroids, or even other planets.  We need a permanent presence in space and that would mean that the infrastructure and personnel needed in order to service nuclear rockets as well as obtaining the reaction mass needed--- all of this must be part of the bargain or the show is off.