At 01:44 PM 2/19/2003 -0800, Pierce Nichols wrote:
At 01:28 PM 2/19/2003 -0800, Michael Wallis wrote:Well ... 100+ G's at take-off is a little hard on the passengers as well. 8-)
There's no a priori reason I can see that the acceleration needs to be that high. However, even if it does, a market large enough to support any kind of laser launch system will need high availability cargo delivery.
I just realized that one of the primary things delivered to LEO by a laser launcher will probably by LH2, because it's the ideal reaction mass for various sorts of thermal propulsions systems (laser, solar, nuclear, etc), as well as certain electric propulsions systems. It's not readily available in the near-earth environment, so it will have to be shipped from the ground.
-p
Mars or Bust!
www.marssociety.com
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