tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593390371951368920.post-64671939533668346362008-05-11T04:35:00.000-04:002008-05-11T04:35:00.000-04:002008-05-11T04:35:00.000-04:00Hi Darnell<BR/><BR/>Mercury is only 105 days away via a Hohmann orbit, but the delta-vee is nasty - 5.55 km/s from LEO then 7.5 km/s in low Mercury orbit. An elliptical arrival orbit only shaves 1 km/s off that, too. <BR/><BR/>Either way that's a pretty tough ask for near-term propulsion systems carrying a manned vehicle, unless a multi-year space-soak of cosmic rays, ala MESSENGER, is acceptable... not!<BR/><BR/>Mercury has some advantages though. There's radar evidence for large polar caps - much, much stronger signals than the Moon's vague hints.qraalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436948899560519608noreply@blogger.com