(Holly Deedee) wrote in
:

1) Using current technology and taking into account theretical limits,
what is the maximum payload that could be landed on the moon and what
would be the cost in doing so? Would this cost be lower if 2 or 3
such landings were to be made?

Delta IV Heavy looks like it could launch 8 - 10 tons towards the
Moon; figure about half that to the surface and at least $250 million
per flight. Reasonably near-future upgrades could probably double that
payload, but not lower costs significantly. Given a firm committment to
a block production of launch components, Boeing might cut you a
discount.

There aren't any other available launch systems that could improve
on that peformance right now. Given sufficient budget and no more
than a decade's time, we could at least duplicate Saturn V performance
with a highly upgraded Delta IV or Atlas V.

A Shuttle-derived launcher could probably duplicate a very uprated
Delta IV or Atlas V, likely at double the cost. Krunichev of Russia has
a _proposed_ Angara 100 that could offer similar performance. The only
other demonstrated heavy-lift system, Energia, appears to be dead.

Who's got really deep pockets?

--Damon