Comments on: Phobos — The Key to the Cosmos? Just Ask Russia and China! http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/phobos-the-key-to-the-cosmos-just-ask-russia-and-china/ TECHNOLOGY BOOMS AND HUMAN EXPANSION INTO THE COSMOS Mon, 21 May 2012 17:39:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Hop David http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/phobos-the-key-to-the-cosmos-just-ask-russia-and-china/comment-page-1/#comment-8683 Hop David Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:31:04 +0000 http://21stcenturywaves.com/?p=2394#comment-8683 A beanstalk from Phobos extending to the top of Mars' atmosphere would be traveling about .6 km/sec wrt to Phobos surface. Easily reached by suborbital hops from Mars. A Phobos tether sufficient to impart enough velocity for trans earth insertion would be much shorter than than a Mars bean stalk. Here is an illustration showing how long a tether beanstalk would need to be for various destinations: http://clowder.net/hop/TMI/PhobosTether.jpg Even the trans Ceres insertion is well below Mars synchronous orbit. <strong>Hi Hop, Thanks for your comment. It's true that if you like tethers near Earth, you'll love them at Mars. As a former grad student at the U of A and a Kitt Peak fan, I've always liked the Ajo area too. Best regards, Bruce</strong> A beanstalk from Phobos extending to the top of Mars’ atmosphere would be traveling about .6 km/sec wrt to Phobos surface. Easily reached by suborbital hops from Mars.

A Phobos tether sufficient to impart enough velocity for trans earth insertion would be much shorter than than a Mars bean stalk.

Here is an illustration showing how long a tether beanstalk would need to be for various destinations:

http://clowder.net/hop/TMI/PhobosTether.jpg

Even the trans Ceres insertion is well below Mars synchronous orbit.

Hi Hop,
Thanks for your comment.

It’s true that if you like tethers near Earth, you’ll love them at Mars.

As a former grad student at the U of A and a Kitt Peak fan, I’ve always liked the Ajo area too.

Best regards,
Bruce

]]> By: dirk alan http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/phobos-the-key-to-the-cosmos-just-ask-russia-and-china/comment-page-1/#comment-6227 dirk alan Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:45:57 +0000 http://21stcenturywaves.com/?p=2394#comment-6227 dr bruce thanks for your kind words. it would seem that clarks elevator to space is better suited to mars than earth. less weather problems less security issues and an elegant solution for opening up the planet. can you find some body to figure what it will take to move deimos to its new orbit ? im guessing a number of years with a decent size nuke engine. the science folks could work it out exactly - moving that rock would be an astounding feat. an article with the details would be an interesting read. cheers. <strong>Hi Dirk, Martyn Fogg, the author of <em>Terraforming: Engineering Planetary Environments </em> just got back to me last night; we're unaware of any terraforming proposals concerning Deimos. There was some attention on Phobos that goes back to the 1970s. Best regards... Bruce</strong> dr bruce thanks for your kind words. it would seem that clarks elevator to space is better suited to mars than earth. less weather problems less security issues and an elegant solution for opening up the planet. can you find some body to figure what it will take to move deimos to its new orbit ? im guessing a number of years with a decent size nuke engine. the science folks could work it out exactly – moving that rock would be an astounding feat. an article with the details would be an interesting read. cheers.

Hi Dirk,

Martyn Fogg, the author of Terraforming: Engineering Planetary Environments just got back to me last night; we’re unaware of any terraforming proposals concerning Deimos. There was some attention on Phobos that goes back to the 1970s.

Best regards…
Bruce

]]> By: dirk alan http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/phobos-the-key-to-the-cosmos-just-ask-russia-and-china/comment-page-1/#comment-6033 dirk alan Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:00:44 +0000 http://21stcenturywaves.com/?p=2394#comment-6033 i think deimos is the better place to concentrate efforts. my plan would be to strap a nuke engine on it - to slow it down a bit to mars synch orbit. park it over a spot selected to be the first colony on mars. then drop a cable to the surface and use an elevator to take people and equipment up and down. deimos would be a comsat a fuel dump a gateway to mars. things could be done a proper scale instead of just barely. from the base on mars explorers fan out across the planet making other bases that become cities. deimos may be the most strategic piece of real estate in the solar system. deimos is de most. <strong>Hi Dirk! Thanks for your comments. I agree with you about Deimos. Actually we looked at both Phobos and Deimos and recognized that Deimos had many advantages, including enhanced accessibility from Earth. We were actually taking a first serious look at the idea of mining large amounts of water from Phobos and/or Deimos and retrieving it for use in the Earth-Moon system, assuming the Moon was nearly dry (it was 1989!). It would be a real interplanetary economy! In the "Articles" section of this website you can see two articles -- an AIAA paper and another that appeared in "Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century" -- that introduce some of the excitement you could have at Deimos and/or Phobos! You're right, "Deimos is de most!" Best regards, Bruce</strong> i think deimos is the better place to concentrate efforts. my plan would be to strap a nuke engine on it – to slow it down a bit to mars synch orbit. park it over a spot selected to be the first colony on mars. then drop a cable to the surface and use an elevator to take people and equipment up and down. deimos would be a comsat a fuel dump a gateway to mars. things could be done a proper scale instead of just barely. from the base on mars explorers fan out across the planet making other bases that become cities. deimos may be the most strategic piece of real estate in the solar system. deimos is de most.

Hi Dirk!
Thanks for your comments. I agree with you about Deimos.

Actually we looked at both Phobos and Deimos and recognized that Deimos had many advantages, including enhanced accessibility from Earth.

We were actually taking a first serious look at the idea of mining large amounts of water from Phobos and/or Deimos and retrieving it for use in the Earth-Moon system, assuming the Moon was nearly dry (it was 1989!). It would be a real interplanetary economy!

In the “Articles” section of this website you can see two articles — an AIAA paper and another that appeared in “Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century” — that introduce some of the excitement you could have at Deimos and/or Phobos!

You’re right, “Deimos is de most!”

Best regards,
Bruce

]]> By: Carnival Of Space #147 « Bruceleeeowe's Blog http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/phobos-the-key-to-the-cosmos-just-ask-russia-and-china/comment-page-1/#comment-5892 Carnival Of Space #147 « Bruceleeeowe's Blog Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:32:09 +0000 http://21stcenturywaves.com/?p=2394#comment-5892 [...] Phobos — The Key to the Cosmos? Just Ask Russia and China! [...] [...] Phobos — The Key to the Cosmos? Just Ask Russia and China! [...]

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