>>14392491>>14392515So here's a mission outline.
Mission goal (important to have): Get humans to Jupiter's moons to set up a foothold in the form of at least one surface base capable of producing significant amounts of propellant and acting as a significant transportation node, enabling two-way access between Jupiter and Earth.
Problem 1: Jupiter is far away, we need to go much faster than a hohmann transfer orbit would allow. Chemical propulsion limits us to around 12 months minimum transfer time between Earth and Jupiter, and it's infeasible to imagine pushing all the chemical propellant necessary to slow down with and maneuver around Jupiter if we use purely chemical propulsion.
Problem 2: Maneuvering around Jupiter and its moons is delta V intensive even if careful use of gravity assists is possible, which is not always true, and importantly every gravity assist maneuver will imply a significant time spent coasting through space doing nothing to further advancement towards the goal stated above (the Jovian moon system is a very large volume of space, and if we consider the outer irregular moons in mission planning a simple hohmann transfer from close to Jupiter out to those objects could require multiple Earth-years to complete).
In summary, we need a means of getting to Jupiter rapidly, and we need to be able to capture into orbit on arrival and then encounter, brake around, and land equipment on, one of Jupiter's moons (tbd). My recommendation is a hybrid propulsion system, using both chemical and nuclear-electric propulsion at various points to enable these pioneer missions.
(continued in a bit)
