Conversation

ToughSF

@ToughSf

·

Jan 22, 2021

A fascinating scenario by

@cstross

got me thinking: https://antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2021/01/covid-on-mars.html… How would a plausible Mars colony in 2070 handle an epidemic? It would be a very densely populated area with closed loop air supply that might have to wait 15 months for the vaccine relief...

16

22

67

ToughSF

@ToughSf

·

Jan 22, 2021

But is that really the case? Vaccines are lightweight, especially if you just supply a liquid dose and a disposable needle. Total 20 grams, perhaps 50 grams with packaging. 10,000 doses fit in 0.5 tons. Put that in an aerobraking capsule with chutes and it might add up to 2 tons.

4

8

ToughSF

@ToughSf

·

Jan 22, 2021

Small payload on big booster gives a lot of deltaV, enough for an accelerated trip to Mars outside of optimal transfer windows. 2 tons on top of a Centaur SEC stage gives us a mass ratio of 5.9, so deltaV becomes 7.83 km/s (starting in Low Earth Orbit).

1

2

9

ToughSF

@ToughSf

·

Jan 22, 2021

That allows travel times as low as 2 months inside the optimal window, or six month trips even +/- 4 months outside the optimal window. The downside to these trajectories is that the capsule comes screaming in at 15km/s, compared to the usual 6-7 km/s.

2

10

'(·)

@allgebrah

Replying to

@ToughSf

the comments (imo rightfully) roast him for the unrealistic premise and mainly argue that a plain virus wouldn't do much to a high-biosecurity environment such as a mars colony

11:42 AM · Jan 22, 2021·Twitter Web App