Monday, June 27, 2016

China to Mars by 2020?

Not a manned mission, it seems.  They want to get there unmanned, and land a rover.  The article said that the USA's 70's era Viking spacecraft was a rover, but it was not.

The article went on to say that it is "breakthrough" type of rocket.  Only a breakthrough for the Chinese.  It is a simple design that has been around for decades.

When somebody makes a nuclear thermal upper stage with a high ISP, it may be time to be impressed.  The US did this during the Apollo era, but never launched it.

The advantage of a higher ISP is that more payload to be placed into orbit per launch.  You're going to need a lot of stuff to sustain the astronauts for such a long journey.

We can get to Mars, but it will take a sustained effort to do so.  Obama canceled the USA effort early in his presidency.



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