Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!bbn!gatech!prism!dsm
From: dsm@prism.gatech.EDU (Daniel McGurl)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Room Temperature fusion - possible indications?
Message-ID: <369@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 28 Mar 89 04:11:49 GMT
References: <290@vlsi.ll.mit.edu> <1098@Portia.Stanford.EDU> <296@v7fs1.UUCP> <5849@pdn.nm.paradyne.com> <1989Mar26.003753.11770@utzoo.uucp> <5853@pdn.paradyne.com> <24998@amdcad.AMD.COM> <7739@pyr.gatech.EDU>
Reply-To: dsm@prism.gatech.EDU (Daniel McGurl)
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 23

In article <7739@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes:
>     A few problems here...
[lines deleted]
>the fuel for the return trip must be carried on board, and this fuel must be
>sufficient to accelerate and decelerate the loaded ship.  WE're looking at 
>fuel requirements in the tens of millions of tons.  I don't see this kind
>of capability with forseeable technology anytime in the next thirty years.
>Matthew DeLuca
>Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
>uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!ccoprmd
>ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu

Ah, but you miss a critical point, the only fuel required is to get out to the
Asteroid belt.  Getting the asteriods back involves just giving them a push
of sorts (unless you are in a hurry-- sure this may take a few years for them
to get back to earth orbit).  Also, the space ship could probably slow in a
way similar to the shuttles when it returns to Earth, just use the atmosphere
as a speed brake.
-- 
Daniel Sean McGurl                       "He's got to make his own mistakes,
Office of Computing Services              and learn to mend the mess he makes."
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta Georgia, 30332                                ARPA: dsm@prism.gatech.edu