freediver wrote on Jan 23
rd, 2016 at 9:54pm:
How much will it decrease by? My understanding is that the main cost is associated with the huge amount of energy required to get into space. Taking extra re-usable gear would add to the weight.
The fuel for retro rockets to reduce by the velocity required would be death to most flights - but it's a start. Landing on low gravity planets like The Moon and Mars are not the same as landing back on Earth, and even the Russians with their massive multi-thrust body rockets didn't try it. The greatest burden to space flight is weight of support and other systems required, all of which must be lifted by the initial fuel load and thus makes of any serious venture a massive effort.
A serious load of crew and equipment would most likely mean the rocket required would never lift off... every pound of weight added, including in extra fuel, increase exponentially the fuel required....
If the retro idea was so good, why would not NASA etc have done it all before?
For this reason - they need to put PAYLOAD into space - not just a rocket.
But I suppose the private sector is more efficient - I can tell that from my power bills and my tollway payments .......