duane wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:45 pm
maybe it would be easier to use projective geometry and CGI........
That's the way it has been done in the past!
duane wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:45 pm
other wise how are we going to know
Good point; nukes were Jules Verne's approach in
From the Earth to the Moon, but odds are that the moon is at zero magnetic ionization, which means uranium will be stable.
So far, all the competitors are using chemical rockets, just as before. Space-X, using chemical thrusters, was only able to get 72 miles off the surface of Earth. That's a bit short of a lunar flight.
Just for the heck of it, if we were to build a ship using RS2 principles...
Propulsion: it has been demonstrated that "reaction thrust" does not actually work as described. Recent experiments in vacuum chambers have show that thrust needs an atmosphere to push against--it does not do much in a vacuum. This is probably why chemical rockets don't get very far off the planet after the atmosphere thins out.
My approach would be to use Goethe's ideas--observe Nature and copy it. Larson wrote a book on the two, observable "anti-gravity" engines in Nature--
Quasars and Pulsars. Pulsars operate in the 3-x, ultra-high speed range (they move against the pull of gravity, but remain in the material sector) and Quasars operate beyond the 3-x range (moving out of the material and into the cosmic sector). If we were to create a micro-pulsar as an engine core (the Dewey Drive), the craft would simply move in exactly the opposite direction as the pull of gravity, regardless of atmosphere. Once you got out far enough with sufficient momentum, just turn off the engine and let lunar gravity pull it in. As you approach the surface, turn the engine on again to slow the decent and make a soft landing. No chemical fuel required, and could probably be powered by high-efficiency batteries.
Navigation: the antigravity propulsion system will create its own, local 3D coordinate system to the ship, so there a number of problems with navigation, since "inertial navigation" won't do anything, as there will be no inertia with respect to the exterior environment. About the only way would be stellar navigation, like the old sailboats--but there is also a problem with that, as once you reach the exosphere, the stars are not visible (including the sun), as there is no atmosphere to create the light from the stellar emissions. However, you CAN see the planets, because they DO have atmosphere refracting the sunlight (which I believe is in the uV range in space). Of course, the two, biggest planets are the Earth and Moon, so one could navigate by just using those two reference points, providing the navigation computer could recognize the difference between them, should the ship get flipped around.
Radiation: particularly, the Van Allen belts, some 40,000 miles of hard radiation and charged particles. Ionized matter would not be a problem (micrometeoroids), as they gravitate and the propulsion system would repel them. The problem would be the non-gravitating matter, which are primarily gamma rays, cosmic rays and charged particles. Cosmic rays crash computers when they hit the CPUs, and they are rather difficult to stop with conventional shielding. (This is actually becoming a problem, given the widespread use of computers in the world.)
I do not yet have a solution to this problem, other than to make the ship "mechanical," rather than electronic.
Communication: how do you talk back to Earth over 230,000 miles? And as Duane mentioned, how do you prove the communication is actually coming from the moon?
My initial thought is that radio may not work given the Van Allen belt noise, but we do know we can visually SEE the moon, so thinking of some kind of pulsed laser system. Even with a tight field, by the time the laser reaches the Earth it would be hundreds of miles across--which could work to advantage, as it could be picked up by amateur observers and triangulated upon.
Another option would be to use a quantum-entangled communication system, where an entanglement of matter on the probe with one on Earth would provide instant communication--but only to the receiver.
Return: The ship should be able to fly back after completing its mission, since there is no loss of "reaction material."
Other thoughts: I suspect that "hard drives" would not survive the trip, due to the propulsion system and magnetically active environment of space. Programs would have to be in ROMs, with redundant systems to check each other for failure.
Roaming around the surface of the moon... I would think hovering around it would be better, given the propulsion system. That way, all the mechanics involved with wheels/tracks can be avoided.
And after the ship returns successfully, we all get mega-rich selling it to Bigelow Aerospace!