Orbital Space Plane

"Doug Ellison" wrote in message
...

Errrr - $200b? You obviously havnt a clue what Mars Direct actually is
then?


So, you're one of the few who thinks this can be done for $20billion
then?
Ha!


It can certainly be done for a great deal less than $200b

That's what they said about the Space Station. It has already souped up more
than $100billion and it's still climbing. And worse, it isn't even operating
at half capacity. It's just a trailerhome in space! Don't believe Zurbrin
and his crap. Any Mars mission will cost AT LEAST $200billion, if not more.
"And for what?" people will ask. There are too many unemployed and people
trying to scrape together a living in the U.S. and they're all voters. No,
sir. This isn't going to fly. Heck, people are already complaining about the
$80billon or so spent in Iraq. Do you really think they're gonna allow a
$200billion mission to Mars? Get real.

In article , Dr. O dr.o@xxxxx wrote:
It can certainly be done for a great deal less than $200b

That's what they said about the Space Station.

Yes, and it was true, too. Don't confuse "could be done for less than X"
with "cannot possibly exceed X no matter how screwed up the program is".
(It is difficult to imagine a program more screwed up than the station.)

...Any Mars mission will cost AT LEAST $200billion, if not more.

If it's done as a "business as usual" effort by today's NASA, yes, it
probably would. Better management, not better mission profile, is the key
to doing it much more cheaply.
--
MOST launched 1015 EDT 30 June, separated 1046, | Henry Spencer
first ground-station pass 1651, all nominal! |

"O" for Ordover?

"Dr. O" wrote:

"Doug Ellison" wrote in message
...

Errrr - $200b? You obviously havnt a clue what Mars Direct actually is
then?


So, you're one of the few who thinks this can be done for $20billion
then?
Ha!

NASA couldn't, but if I had $20 billion, up front, I could get to Mars
in about 15 years.


It can certainly be done for a great deal less than $200b

That's what they said about the Space Station. It has already souped up more
than $100billion and it's still climbing.

The cost, thus far, is less than a third of that.

And worse, it isn't even operating
at half capacity.

It's only half built.

It's just a trailerhome in space! Don't believe Zurbrin
and his crap. Any Mars mission will cost AT LEAST $200 billion, if not more.

Are you an engineer?

"And for what?" people will ask. There are too many unemployed and people
trying to scrape together a living in the U.S. and they're all voters. No,
sir. This isn't going to fly. Heck, people are already complaining about the
$80billon or so spent in Iraq. Do you really think they're gonna allow a
$200billion mission to Mars?

Not a chance.

Henry Spencer wrote:

In article , Dr. O dr.o@xxxxx wrote:
It can certainly be done for a great deal less than $200b

That's what they said about the Space Station.

Yes, and it was true, too. Don't confuse "could be done for less than X"
with "cannot possibly exceed X no matter how screwed up the program is".
(It is difficult to imagine a program more screwed up than the station.)

...Any Mars mission will cost AT LEAST $200billion, if not more.

If it's done as a "business as usual" effort by today's NASA, yes, it
probably would. Better management, not better mission profile, is the key
to doing it much more cheaply.

Better management is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition. A
bad design could still drive costs through the roof, and there are a lot
of bad designs out there. There is still a lot of room for improvements
in mission design which could reduce costs substantially. It is
probably true that better management would be more likely to pick a good
design, but it doesn't necessarily follow.
--
MOST launched 1015 EDT 30 June, separated 1046, | Henry Spencer
first ground-station pass 1651, all nominal! |

...Any Mars mission will cost AT LEAST $200billion, if not more.

You left out the word nasa after "Any."

Zubrin says 30 billion would do a Mars Direct, who are you to differ so widely?
An anti-human spaceflight robotocist?
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