That raptor rocket surely doesn't have *much* higher delta V than, say, the Saturn 5? No chemical reaction is going to be that much more efficient, no matter that you turn it into a superheated flying bomb. Surely for human exploration beyond the Moon you really need (a) a moon base, (b) and orbital assembly plant supplied from the moon base, and (c) some form of nuclei/ion propulsion for your long haul space craft (which also need shielding, of course!)
Or use chemical propellant to rendezvous with one of those asteroids I mentioned, then sit back and wait out the 9 months or so to Mars. (Preferably installing a permanent base in the asteroid, which effectively becomes a mars shuttle.) I wish I could type this without my hands shaking with excitement. We're actually trying to go to Mars!!!!!! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
