Hey everyone, I hope posts like this are ok. I didn't see any specific rules against it (this isn't really self promotion... I'm really just trying to see if there is interest in a thing and have an open discussion on what it might look like, or if anything like this exists)

So I had this idea for something like an app that simulates communication across the solar system. Essentially it would be a discord/teams/slack style UI, but with a 2d map of the solar system as it is right now, and you can send messages to other people's avatars that might be anywhere in the solar system, including a realistic light speed time delay. Those messages would have visual indicators on the map showing where they are in space and how much longer they have to reach the target.

I think it would be a super interesting project but I don't see a ton of particular reason to actually USE the app besides the initial "oh, this is neat I guess" reason. I see it as more of a STEAM tool then anything functional. Maybe something that educators can use to teach kids about space travel and communicating across vast distances.

One other kind of addon idea I had too is to possibly integrate an LLM chat bot (Ooo I know, AI bad) for each of the various rovers/probes/satellites throughout the solar system. Maybe have it fetch current scientific pictures/data. This would allow kids to "chat" with the curiosity rover for example.

Any feedback? Ideas? Features?

Thanks all!

I exclude interplanetary space because I believe that will be dominated by SpaceX. I believe that the organisation that will dominate cislunar space is a lot less clear given Blue Origin's goals of moving industry into (what I assume is LEO/cislunar) space, their space tourism plans, their being selected as Artemis lander for Artemis 5 onwards, and their space station/Orbital Reef plans.

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Using advanced surface thermal cells to convert reentry heat into stored energy on board seems like a practical endeavor. A lot of heat, a lot of energy but with a need of ideal mass for the system. Could the energy absorbed from reentry have a practical use after reentry on such a system?

Has there been any movement towards its goal at all?

It's possible because of the momentum of energy in space. Even tho the energy is miniscule. Over time it amounts https://youtube.com/shorts/Zvk56VlcbWE?si=LsE96_K9VfScAD-t

From what I've gathered China's Lanyue lander requires a crasher stage similar to the Soviet LK to successfully land on the moon with enough propellant to return to lunar orbit. But this seems both completely unsustainable even for Apollo style missions, and flat out dangerous if you plan to be landing near a Lunar base multiple times for crew rotations. I strongly assume that they'll have to develop an entire new lander if they ever plan to have a base on the Moon, which brings the question of why they developed Lanyue in this way to begin with.

In addition to the astronauts, do they intend to leave behind cargo?

Can it happen?

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To clarify I am an amateur space flight fan, so I am not well verse in the technical details. But I been trying to figure out what would be the smallest possible manned spacecraft capable of lunar landing. Specifically, I am focusing on mass.

Looking over previous ideas, the closest I seen was one proposed here for Lunar Gemini that uses either two titan 3C launches or a single launch with a Saturn C-3. Which implies something along the range of 26,200-36,300kg launched into low earth orbit.

This would be in range of some heavy lift rockets, rather than super heavy lift rockets. I find myself wondering if something even smaller could be used, like a spacecraft for just one man.

I'd like to work with GMAT for a student project and need to import CCSDS-OEM files to simulate spacecraft trajectories. I'm not sure if GMAT supports direct import of CCSDS-OEM files, and if it does, how to properly set it up. Any guidance, examples, or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for any help!

You know the drill, discuss why we should do both. Convince me! (hint, I like one and not so much the other)