• threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      Those sound more like financial and engineering challenges than physics. If we build something like an Aldrin cycler, all that mass needs to be launched only once. Larger and cheaper rockets are currently in development, with multiple organizations currently working on fully or partially reusable launch vehicles.

      I’m not convinced that asteroid mining is a necessary prerequisite for a well-shielded Mars mission, though it would definitely be more efficient in the future.