A real What If? Gemini/LK to the Moon

It would seem that a Gemini lunar mission that used an LK lander would
have been a great, cheap combination. I don't know if EOR or LOR would
have been the best architecture, but I don't think this would have
needed any more than Saturn IBs and Protons to accomplish.

The question is whether this creates an existence proof for an easy
return to the Moon soon. Of course, this assumes that a Gemini class
spacecraft could be recreated today.

On 17 Feb 2004 08:34:07 -0800, (Explorer8939)
wrote:

It would seem that a Gemini lunar mission that used an LK lander would
have been a great, cheap combination .....
The question is whether this creates an existence proof for an easy
return to the Moon soon ....

Well, it does show you can do it for a lot less than some of the
critics of President Bush's vision are saying it will cost.

.... Of course, this assumes that a Gemini class
spacecraft could be recreated today.

Sure, you CAN do it. Whether you would WANT to is another matter.
Gemini was created as an engineering stopgap between Mercury and
Apollo to test out some things needed for Apollo. I can't see why you
would want a 2-man capsule built today if we're going to turn our
resources to building the Constellation/CEV (which may take its cues
from Apollo), except maybe to compliment it with a smaller "space
taxi" that can run up to a space station and back, and that mission is
debateable. But yes, you can recreate it, sure.



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On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 10:35:34 -0500, Michael Gallagher
wrote:

Sure, you CAN do it. Whether you would WANT to is another matter.
Gemini was created as an engineering stopgap between Mercury and
Apollo to test out some things needed for Apollo.

....Yes and no. It was also built with MOL in mind as a replacement for
the canned Dyna-Soar to placate the Air Farce when McNamara ignorantly
canned the project to free up funding for Vietnam that never went
there to begin with. Sort of flying two birds with one stone, so to
speak.

OM

--

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poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 00:58:11 -0600, OM
om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org
wrote:

[Gemini] was also built with MOL in mind as a replacement for
the canned Dyna-Soar to placate the Air Farce when McNamara ignorantly
canned the project to free up funding for Vietnam that never went
there to begin with. Sort of flying two birds with one stone, so to
speak.

OM


I didn't know MOL went that far back. Thanks.




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Michael Gallagher wrote:


I didn't know MOL went that far back. Thanks.

MOL was going to use a Air Force derivative of Gemini called "Blue
Gemini" which allowed the crew to enter the MOL via a hatch in the heat
shield. MOL was basically a manned reconnaissance satellite with the
crew able to search out and photograph targets of interest on the ground
(MOL's other name was KH-10 Dorian) it became apparent during the
program that the weight being dedicated to the crew accommodations and
life support would be better used in building a larger unmanned
reconnaissance satellite, so MOL got canned.
The Soviets however built something very much like MOL with their Almaz
series of military space stations- they found that we had been right to
cancel MOL; not that much of interest was spotted on the ground by the
cosmonauts, and the big camera and decreased internal volume compared to
a Salyut station made the Almaz very cramped inside; the original plan
was for Almaz, like MOL, to carry its crew into space with it in a VA
return capsule attached to the nose like the Blue Gemini. Once in orbit
another spacecraft, the TKS that became the basis for the Mir add-on
modules, would dock to the Almaz and provide living quarters for the
crew as well as a second VA return capsule (film return?) to complement
the one or two smaller reentry ones already on Almaz. But this required
two proton launches to accomplish, so the Soyuz was used to ferry the
crew up to the Almaz; which now had no VA module on it. The result was a
station with pretty miserable crew accommodations, and Almaz got
canceled after three flights (Salyuts 2,3,5) a leftover one was later
launched unmanned.
The crew found that most of their time was spent on station upkeep,
leaving them little time for reconnaissance operations.

Pat

The crew found that most of their time was spent on station upkeep,
leaving them little time for reconnaissance operations.

Pat

Sounds like ISS.................