Why it's time to reach for full reusability

Even before Sputnik was launched, the fertile imaginations of the public and futurists alike widely believed that once space-borne with artificial satellites, humankind would quickly progress toward human spaceflight to the moon, Mars and Venus, all across the solar system, even to the stars. We ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aerospace America 2021-05, Vol.59 (4)
Main Authors: Ustinov, Eugene A, Moynihan, Philip I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial satellites
Coastal waters
Deep space
Earth
Manned space flight
Mars probes
Mars satellites
Navigation
Propulsion system performance
Rockets
Solar system
Space exploration
Sputnik satellites
Venus
Venus probes
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Summary:Even before Sputnik was launched, the fertile imaginations of the public and futurists alike widely believed that once space-borne with artificial satellites, humankind would quickly progress toward human spaceflight to the moon, Mars and Venus, all across the solar system, even to the stars. We assumed that the chemical rockets that opened the way to space would give way to nuclear and then to thermonuclear propulsion systems. The theoretical estimates of performance of nuclear and thermonuclear propulsion looked very promising. It was also widely believed that the corresponding technologies would be available soon, and the same generations that witnessed launch of the first Earth satellites would see rapid progress toward deep space flight not only by probes, but also by humans. It appeared natural that orbital space operations would assume only a minor fraction of all space operations, in a way similar to how the early seafaring navigation of coastal waters gave way to navigation of the high seas.
ISSN:0740-722X