John Doe wrote in :


In terms of pretending that CEV can participate in a Mars mission, this
is utter rubbish. All it would do is act as a crew ferry between earth
and the staging area in LEO where the mars ship would be assembled.

Incorrect. It will also serve as the reentry vehicle on the return trip.

And I am not convinced that a capsule would be the best way to land on
mars. They will some vehicle to land properly so it can launch from mars
and rejoin the expedition ship. That vehicle might has well be carrying
the crew down as well. And such a vehicle would be quite different from
an apollo capsule.

Why do you assume that NASA would be so stupid as to use a CEV as a Mars
lander? They are developing a separate lunar lander (LSAM) for the moon -
why wouldn't they do so for Mars as well?

This is not to say that the mars expedition ship might not be carrying a
CEV as an emergency escape pod.

If that's true we're up to three uses (not one) for the CEV for a Mars
mission, in case you're counting.

--
JRF

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