Category Archives: Lunar Exploration and Development

Forehead Smacking Moments: NEO Delta-V Misunderstanding

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

This is kind of embarrasing to admit, but I had a long-time misconception about the delta-V requirements for reaching NEOs.  A long time ago, I read some figure for delta-V requirements for earth-crossing asteroids.  The figure was ridiculously low, something … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NEOs | 26 Comments

Depot-Centric Human Spaceflight

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

In light of how well today went at the Augustine Committee, I felt that it would be worthwhile to post the propellant depot white paper that a group of us submitted last week. I was originally planning a much longer … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Propellant Depots, RLV Markets, Space Transportation | 17 Comments

One of the Most Amazing 25 Minutes in (Recent) NASA History [Updated]

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Or at least that’s how Stephen Flemming put it on Twitter regarding Jeff Greason’s presentation at the Augustine Committee meeting today in Florida. To be fair, the rest of the subgroup also did an amazing job, especially Chris Chyba’s wrapup … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, International Space Collaboration, International Space Competition, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Policy, Space Transportation, Technology | 8 Comments

Random Thought: NASA Multi-Launch Hypocrisy

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Just reading some of the comments from the Constellation used-car sale pitch going on in Huntsville today.  One of the topics discussed was how Ares-V enables manned missions to Mars.   The Marshall guys put up a chart showing that depending … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA | 10 Comments

File Under: “Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself”

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Mr X over at ChairForce Engineer has one of the best Apollo retrospectives I’ve seen this week (which is only helped by linking to one of my other favorites from this week, by Reason’s Ron Bailey).  Their points are well-taken.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA | 7 Comments

Random Thoughts: Pre-Depot 2-Launch Manned Missions Using L2 Swingby

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Ok, two weeks ago, I mentioned that the “pre-depot” dual EELV launch concept my friend had passed to me could be adapted to do manned lunar missions.  Lunar missions are a lot easier to close if you assume a depot … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, MSS, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Transportation, SpaceX | 13 Comments

Random Thoughts: Lunar Excavation Technologies

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

I recently found a fun presentation on lunar excavation technologies that I thought deserved a bit wider circulation.  I’ve actually been interested in lunar excavation for over a decade now (in fact, it played a role in leading me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Technology | 8 Comments

Quick Notes: Debunking The PLF Volume Argument for HLVs

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

I noticed during the DIRECT presentation at today’s HSF public meeting, that they were asked why they would need an HLV if they had depots.  Now, I didn’t hear the exact question, since I had a phone call come in … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Transportation | 17 Comments

Constellation’s Future? [Updated]

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Several recent news items paint an interesting budgetary picture for the future of NASA’s preferred approach for spending tens of billions of dollars to send a few government employees to visit the Moon sometime supposedly starting in 2020. The three … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, Space Policy | 5 Comments

Orbital Mechanics Tricksiness to Increase the Frequency of TLI Opportunities for LEO Depots

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

[Update 2/10/09 11pm: I’m actually pretty sure I made a mistake here, and my entire idea may be more or less worthless. Basically, the problem is that for any elliptical trajectory, you have a “line of apsides”, which basically is … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Propellant Depots, Space Transportation | 39 Comments