Damon Hill wrote:
(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.

I think you could cut the launch cost significantly
if you used an Atlas 552, which could do nearly as
well as a Delta IVH. If you can wait a few years,
Lockheed Martin has now been given the green light
to build Atlas V-Heavy, which will be the world's
most powerful expendable rocket when it flies. Or
for even less money you could buy a Russian Proton,
one of only two rockets in use today that actually
*have* launched moon landers.

Note that that's only the cost for the launch vehicle,
which would only be able to boost the payload on a
trans-lunar trajectory. More money would have to be
spent first to develop and then to build a deceleration
and landing stage, which would, as you point out, account
for a sizable percentage of your trans-lunar mass.
Historically, complex spacecraft payloads of this type
end up costing as much as, or more than, the launch
vehicle.

Then there's the cost of whatever you are landing on
the moon, which must be designed or packaged (and then
tested) to withstand the temperature extremes and the
vacuum of space, etc..

- Ed Kyle