Recent content by PicnicDoctor

Seems like this is better handled by a tether then the ring I was proposing. Nice video on that: Thanks all for your responses.

Comparing the rockets flown Delta II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_II) US$51 million in 1987 US$137 million in 2018 before retirement Seems fare that messenger mission might be around the same $100 million range as Falcon Heavy in 2004. The Payload capacity that is comparable is...

I was curious about how much we could advance planetary science with the amount we are spending (and planning to spend) on the SLS. Specifically, I want us to increase the number of climates we study from basically Earth to every planet in the solar system. It looks like polar orbiting...

That's what I was thinking. I was also not planning to try this anywhere near a planetary body.

The basic concept is to have your space probe(s) - likely nanocraft [1] on a spinning object in space which allows you to preserve the momentum you give it while accelerating it faster. Then once you are at a speed you can simply release the nanocraft in the direction you want it to go in. More...