Mary to the Moon #1

 

On the feast to of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Friar Roderic Burke starts his new series “Mary to the Moon” that examines how Faith (as in Mary) and Science (such as going to the Moon) are both needed for true human progress, even though many people think they are mutually exclusive. So come blast off with Friar Roderic as he brings devotion to Mary to new heights and places technology in a spiritual context, looking forward to the future.

I have also started a new Mary to the Moon channel for this on YouTube

Space Habitat Video Credit: © Perry Papadopoulos 2018 All Rights Reserved https://www.youtube.com/fragomatik

Special Thanks to:
Fr. Peter Fehlner (RIP, May 8, 2018) for inspiration and advice for this series
Mary Flannery - Graphics
Carole Williams - editorial help.
Isaac Arthur for advice on starting a more technical channel.
My Community of Franciscans Friars and our benefactors
Supporters of AirMaria
And many others

To support this effort: https://airmaria.com/contribute-4/

To Subscribe to our new Mary to the Moon YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/channel/UCvkgm-LAVkq0PpHJxFgiXww?sub_confirmation=1

The claim that I make in the video that costs will be coming down to around $33 per pound will be explained in a future video. It is based on an analysis done here: https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/10/spacex-bfr-to-be-lower-cost-than-falcon-1-at-7-million-per-launch.html. This depends on the success of SpaceX’s giant proposed rocket, the BFR, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFR_(rocket). As such, there are many major technological and financial hurdles to reach this level of savings. However they already have many surprising and rapid successes in developing reusable rockets and BFR development is well on its way. SpaceX also claims that by making the current Falcon 9 fully reusable (only the first stage is now), improving its durability and making it easier and faster to prepare for relaunch, they can reduce the launch cost to as low as one tenth of their current price which alone would bring the cost down to about $120 per pound. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_reusable_launch_system_development_program. Also, many others are busily developing their own reusable rockets, including Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, which will push price reductions through competition. http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk-competition-companies-rockets-2018-3. One way or another, launch prices are coming down and this will be a game change for our space endeavors. Interesting times, indeed.

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