Moon Midway Station

Mr8Manhattan

Would launching spacecraft from the moon be more effective than from earth?

I'm thinking that it would take less energy to escape the gravitational pull, and the added revolution would allow for a more significant slingshot effect on the craft.

Granted the craft would either have to first be launched from Earth and land on the moon, or it would have to be assembled on the moon. Both would be quite difficult, but would it be worth it?

Also, would the absence of an atmosphere make things more difficult, with no outside fuel to interact with, or would it help, because there is "no" resistance?

Ryan_m_b

It would definitely be more efficient. Just compare the size of the craft needed to get astronauts to the Moon;


with the crafts that got them back




As for whether or not it would practically better that really depends on the proposed technology. Currently it would not because as you say anything that is launched to the Moon would have to be sent there from Earth. So it really depends on the sophistication and economics of in situ resource utilisation.

Drakkith

For rockets it would be much better. A rocket engine performs best when the exhaust can exit at its maximum speed. This allows it to be more efficient as there is no air in the way of the exhaust.

If we had the capability to sustain an entire operation to produce and manufacture the spacecraft on the Moon it would be much better to launch from there.