Back to my crazy idea. I am thinking in terms of a cargo ship that just goes between Earth and Mars delivering cargo. What if it just never dropped into orbit around whichever planet it was going to? What if it just picked up smaller cargo crates as it circled around the Earth and headed for Mars? At Mars, it could drop off the cargo (the cargo could use Mars atmosphere to slow it down).
The hard part in this scheme would be getting the small cargo crates to the larger cargo ship. Shoot them there from orbit? If we could do that, would it be easier just to shoot (Launch) them to Mars? Have a big loop on it and have it picked up like the old mail bags when the trains went by?(What a jerk that would be! The cargo better not be breakable).
If it was possible, would any energy be saved, or is it just as efficient to launch the same mass directly to Mars.
Space/Science » in reply to re: Where is a tractor beam when you need one?
Rember how trains used to pick up mailbags?
The whole thread (24 posts)
- Jeff Bell's pessimistic outlook for "Plan Bush"
- Interesting debate debunking Bell's views
- Fact and fiction
- You post made me remember something I thought about a few months ago
- re: Eye opener