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Space/Science » in reply to Son of Apollo....why?

re: Son of Apollo....why?
dtb — (archived)

I think they mean the Command-Service Module part of it, not the Saturn V launch vehicle.

If you decide that you can live without the ability to carry heavy loads down to a runway landing with huge crossrange capability, then your vehicle is a whole lot easier to design. SOmething like the lifting body CRV is possible, and there are apparently people who want to go with something like a modernized Apollo system, others a totally ballistic capsule but not necessarily with any Apollo heritage, and still others who think we should buy Soyuz craft -- which is essentially what we'll be doing in the near term). Those arguments are way above my pay grade.

So, this doesn't preclude a shuttle-derived heavy lifter. You could even man-rate it and launch your Son-of-Apollo with it. But, you could also launch such a vehicle with something much smaller.

The real question I have is, what use is anything like an Apollo for a Mars mission? Putting aside Capricorn I, you aren't going to put a couple of guys in a capsule smaller than an SUV and send them out for three years. You need something much larger, at which point it's hard to see what would be Apollo-like about the ship other than that it doesn't have wings.

In fact, "doesn't have wings" and maybe "not reusable" may be all the reporter meant by the Apollo reference. I wouldn't read too much into it at this point.

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