i'm reading some sf where there's this whole solar system economy and part of it involves shipping food between planets and moons. i just want to confirm - this is not remotely plausible right? fuel costs should be way too high?
Conversation
we ship fish from scotland to asia to be cut then to america to be eaten. i think it's safe to say any fuel we now use will be orders of magnitude more expensive than solar system age fuel
1
19
Replying to
but you have to escape a gravity well once on the way there and once on the way back! doesn't seem remotely comparable to travel across the surface of one planet
might make more sense if you have a cost-saving measure like a space elevator, then a bunch of ships that never enter an atmosphere traveling between planets
1
21
Skyhooks and other tether-based interplanetary infrastructure might reduce the costs to something near friction losses. With enough traffic in both directions, lifting out of any gravity well can be balanced by other payloads inbound.
1
1
23
Show replies
To leave the planet food is being delivered to and go get more food
1
2
Show replies
