News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why is Venus hell and Earth an Eden?. Parent comment

Re:Why is Venus hell and Earth an Eden? by dr_dshiv on Monday September 22, 2025 @03:40AM (#45330244)
You fly the rocket on the bottom of a plane, then fire it out. Assuming these cloud cities have landing strips, right?

Managing ballast might be a challenge…

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why is Venus hell and Earth an Eden? by JumpCrisscross on Monday September 22, 2025 @04:01AM (#45330389)
> You fly the rocket on the bottom of a plane, then fire it out

This requires engineering the rocket to withstand structural loads in two directions as well as a ~90-degree rotation under thrust. Not trivial. (It's been a major handicap for airlaunch on Earth.)

Landing on and taking off from floating platforms is like the one part of Venusian colonisation we've actually solved.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why is Venus hell and Earth an Eden? by vidarh on Monday September 22, 2025 @06:17AM (#45331350)
Or you just drop it off the side.
[ Parent | on HN ]