[FPSPACE] And Griffin's true reasons for sizing the Ares 5

[Jens Kieffer-Olsen]

-----Original Message-----
From: David Portree [mailto:dsfportree at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:30 AM

> NASA's current Mars work is an evolutionary follow-on to the Mars
> work done when Griffin was Associate Administrator for Exploration
> back in the waning days of SEI. You can track the evolution up
> through 2001 in my book HUMANS TO MARS, which is available online.
> Basically, it was based on Code Z work and Mars Direct, and then
> it got "scrubbed" in a vain attempt to make it affordable.

 I don't in any way dispute your expertise in this area, David!

 It just seems so silly that a sensible approach to the bare
 essentials of a manned Mars trip ( two spacecraft as proposed by
 von Braun and Ley ) should be discarded in favour of a naïve,
 Zubrinite one ( Drake's all-in-one-basket proposal ). 
 
 [snip]
 
> While I hate to dump a load of reality on anyone, it's important
> to get one's mind around the fact that Ares 5 isn't going to get
> built, and neither will any other heavy-lift rocket for the
> foreseeable future. Getting into a twist over which heavy-lifter
> should be built is pretty silly, since none will be built.
> 
> David S. F. Portree

 I don't count on any specific rocket or any specific decade for
 the trip to Martian skies. What I do count on is the principle
 of permanence in space. Three years ago I wrote to fpspace that
 Oct. 31st, 2000 could mark the beginning of uninterrupted human
 presence in outer space. So far, it's true. 

 It is my belief that the day mankind touches down on the surface
 of Mars should mark the beginning of uninterrupted presence there.
 That's why I totally disagree with those plans that aim to visit
 Mars in primitive koala-fashion ( eats shoots and leaves ).

--
Jens Kieffer-Olsen
Slagelse, Denmark