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Old 04-30-2019, 02:13 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshire
Willy Ley's statement about an atomic-powered Moonship in his and Chesley Bonestell's--he provided the wonderful paintings in it--1949 book, "The Conquest of Space" (see: http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-sear...thor/ley-willy/ ) is now apparently the accepted paradigm in model rocketry (at least where scale models are concerned). Not knowing how small a sufficiently powerful atomic rocket engine might be made, Ley wrote that the smallest practical engine for a Moonship might be "a compact seven-ton unit," but he added that the size and weight of a spaceship is no problem as long as you have sufficient power to move it (as the non-atomic-powered Saturn V would amply demonstrate less than twenty years later!).

Equivalent to the old USAF saying about the F-4 Phantom II. With enough thrust, even a brick can fly!


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