[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 759 - OHI Automated Heavy Lift Shuttle

[Onno Meyer]

> How well would disposable heat shields and parachutes work?  Aim them at 
> a shallow body of water for soft landings and pick them up with a ship. 
>   Or drop them onto hard ground if the contents are padded enough or not 
> fragile.

No way a disposable system can compete with this shuttle. The 
shuttle costs $8 per pound of payload. $8 per pound for a new 
shuttle, not per flight. 

The parachute would be $0.1 per pound. Say the parachute is a 
quarter of the total cost, and the shuttle would have to last
a mere 20 flights to pay for itself ... 

> In The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Heinlein had the Moon delivering cargo 
> to Earth this way.

A lower TL, and the massdriver was required as a plot device.

Onno