Re: "almost ridiculous"
Sensible chap. Discovering cut corners (faux Apple!) or things that had been missed mid-flight, or on your way down to lithobrake in the Martian surface would not make for a good trip. At least the Moon would be a bit closer for potential rescue missions.
I still think we should be aiming at colonisation rather than just a brief excursion, so sending enough supples and construction material to make a mostly self-sustaining colony. But of course that's a wicked problem, expensive, and would leave colonists vulnerable to budget cuts. But then technology's moved on a lot in 50 years, and unmanned probes & vehicles are busily expanding our knowledge. So landing a human could become essentially a PR stunt, then 'been there, done that!' and nothing happens for another 50 years.
And I also found this-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD0aLdRUs0
About the Rocketdyne F1 engines that powered Saturn 5. Two things struck me. One being the comment that original engines were assembled by highly skilled engineers, and we don't have those skills any more. I rather hope that isn't true, especially with people working on current space programmes. The other was the simplicity of the design, especially given NASA's redesign got it down to around 40 parts. Seems like that could make for a more afffordable design, which would be pretty crucial for sustainable ferry flights.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
