You need fuel to land on a Martian Moon. You don't need much to land on Mars due to it's Atmosphere. I think the amount is similar but don't have my reference handy. You need the same amount of fuel to reach them. You need to take your return fuel with you to a Martian moon which means you also need the fuel to carry it. You can make your return fuel on Mars. We can reach Mars with Saturn 5 lift capacity or by converting the shuttle boosters to a heavy lift vehicle. It's not that hard to reach Mars. Returning was the issue which has been solved by the use of Martian resources to make return fuel. With recent discoveries of large amounts of water on Mars it may not even be necessary to ship the 10% of return fuel mass in the form of hydrogen to convert CO2 on Mars to CH4 rocket fuel. If you save anything in absolute dollars by going to a Martian moon first it will not be cost effective compared to the lost research capability.
The only justification for this approach IMO would be if life is discovered on Mars and we want a teleoperated armada exploring Mars before we land people on it.
Regards,
Mark
Space/Science » in reply to Orbiting but not Landing on Mars
It's Far Past Time You Read Something On Using Martian Resources Raoul
The whole thread (30 posts)
- Orbiting but not Landing on Mars
- And What Are You Talking About With Regard To Launch Windows?
- It's Far Past Time You Read Something On Using Martian Resources Raoul
- "You need to take your return fuel with you to a Martian moon which means you also need the fuel to carry it. "
- re: It's Far Past Time You Read Something On Using Martian Resources Raoul
- The problems with using Martian resources for the return trip.