Chris Hopkins
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Commented on What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
If the cost of launch gets low enough expect all sorts of "Artisan" products (and probably claimed miracle properties). I suspect (for example) cheese would taste different when the organisms involved are in a free-fall environment so it won't take...
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Greg Tingey commented on
What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
Schiaparelli crashed. Not good. Is it just me, or is landing a probe on Mars significantly more "risky" than other distant missions?...
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Allen Thomson commented on
What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars#Mars_Curse...
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Dirk Bruere commented on
What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
Aliens did it. Or possibly Trump....
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Pigeon commented on
What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
It has a decent amount of gravity to fight on the way down, it has bugger all atmosphere to act as a handy brake, and it is far enough away that control on Earth cannot intervene anything like usefully quickly if the onboard systems cock up. For all other possible destinations except Mercury, at least one of these conditions does not apply....
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Fletcher Christian commented on
What else can you do with a Big Dumb Booster?
Venus probes have a fairly poor history, too. At least one of the conditions you mention (atmosphere) doesn't apply there - but there is the small matter of the viciously hostile environment once you do land. I don't know whether this was done at the time, but it seems to me that the designers of Venus probes would do well to consult a builder of submarines - since the pressure is roughly equivalent to a kilometre of water....
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