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piggyboy2005 t1_ixtp1oq wrote

Reply to comment by sonoma95436 in NASA’s Orion capsule captures gorgeous close-up pictures of the moon by Miguenzo

>The moon is not a stepping stone to mars. Other than a gravity assist, it would take far more fuel than a direct route from earth orbit.

Under what mission plan? Landing on the moon? What about rendezvous in high earth orbit, one spacecraft launched from earth with people and one spacecraft launched from the moon, without people?

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sonoma95436 t1_ixtq5zy wrote

You would need to send fuel to lunar orbit or the surface to launch from there. It takes fuel to get it there. More to continue. The cheapest mission is direct from Earth's surface but limits payload to mars. The most effective all around mission is to refuel in earth orbit and go straight to mars. High earth avoids some debris. So launch fuel ers either with a small crew or automated and rendezvous with a manned ship to refuel and head to mars possibly a gravity assist from the moon.

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piggyboy2005 t1_ixx52rb wrote

>You would need to send fuel to lunar orbit or the surface to launch from there. It takes fuel to get it there.

Not if you make the fuel with lunar water.

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>The cheapest mission is direct from Earth's surface but limits payload to mars.

I mean, if you send less payload, it's going to be cheaper. ROI of a moon base would be pretty awful if you sent a normal sized ship or only one ship, rather than a giant ship or a fleet of ships.

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>The most effective all around mission is to refuel in earth orbit and go straight to mars.

That's kind of what I'm saying, but I would source the fuel (and more) from the moon rather than earth, and it would be in high earth orbit or earth-moon L5(or L4)

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