/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14612995
>Phil Bono's second major objective was the manned exploration of Mars. Although an Apollo-type expendable spacecraft was considered, Bono felt a modified ROMBUS would be cheaper and safer although the less optimal single-stage design inevitably would translate to a 3.5 x higher launch mass in Earth orbit. The Mars-bound vehicle would weigh 3,965,758 kg in its 323-kilometer parking orbit. The trans-Mars injection (TMI) burn was planned for in May 1986. The four TMI propellant tanks (now empty) were jettisoned. After an interplanetary cruise period of 200 days, the ROMBUS spacecraft fired its engines to enter a 555-km parking orbit around Mars. The mother craft now had a mass of 984.75t after jettisoning two more empty fuel tanks. A conical 25-metric ton Mars Excursion Module (MEM) then departed with a landing crew of three astronauts.. The MEM's relatively cramped crew quarters and life support systems would only permit a relatively limited 20-day stay on the Martian surface. However, future missions would spend up to a year on Mars thanks to the unmanned cargo delivered by previous unmanned flights.
http://www.astronautix.com/p/projectdeimos.html

>>14517924
we are deconstructing the ship/station binary, chuds seething