RocketSTEM Issue #7 - May 2014 | Page 63

Example The students at The Learning Community Charter School (www.tlcnm.net) have designed a mission to go one-way from a Bigelow space station in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to a Bigelow Course Correction (MCC), and the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) rocket Moon and enter lunar orbit. Budget = TLI + MCC + LOI = 3205 + 19 + 881 = 4,105 mps Conclusion capability of the spacecraft of 4,513 mps lunar mission of 4,105 mps. We therefore conclude that the mission can be all the way to the Moon, and we recommend that crew selection begin immediately! The Boeing Space Tug Study spacecraft, had it been built, would have been a most formidable and versatile ship, well ahead of its time. They truly had an astonishing space vehicle on the drawing board back in the day, no? So why are we not building reusable spaceships en masse again? Note: In the next issue of RocketSTEM magazine, we will continue the human adventure by working out the mathematics for a landing on the Moon. Stay tuned! www.RocketSTEM .org 61 61