Project Hermes, or, Brits On The Moon

[Weaver]

How about RAF Gan in the southern Maldives? That got a base in 1941 and remianed in UK use until 1976.

There's not much to Gan, it's little more than an airstrip with very little extra area to each side. But maybe a humunugous reclamation programme could enlarge it. 

Actually I was looking at various atolls, including Gan and Diego Garcia, and wondering how feasible it would be to have structures in the middle of the lagoon, either floating or fixed to the seabed. Sea Launch managed to conduct successful launches from an actual ship, so it must be technically possible at least.

Sea Launch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Launch

[PR19_Kit]

Good idea but the platform would need to be a LOT larger than the SeaLaunch one, a Saturn V is MEGA compared to a Zenit 3!

[Weaver]

Good idea but the platform would need to be a LOT larger than the SeaLaunch one, a Saturn V is MEGA compared to a Zenit 3!

Oh granted, but then I'm not talking about a moving ship, just a floating tethered platform. In fact, the scale of the rocket might be the precise reason for choosing a stationary platform in an atoll rather than an actual ship which can go to the equator.

Also, I wasn't neccessarily thinking of Zac's 'British Apollo' missions using Saturn Vs anyway. There are other ways to run a Moon mission, one of which is to send multiple craft on separate, smaller launchers which only meet up at the Moon.

[KiwiZac]

Fantsatic model work there!

I just don't get the backstory. Why would a govt spend billions on something like this for no public benefit? Surely it'd be something to shout about?

It's classified for security reasons - ie, I'm not clued-up enough on why the military would want moon bases/expeditions. You could say the same for Apollo, minus the shouting about it: what did it achieve?

[Martin H]

if your looking for an alternative UK aligned location near to the equator. Theres always Ascension Island.

No local population to displace, no Tourists either. Entry has always been very tightly controlled so every thing could be kept away from prying eyes, and It would be easy to ship the Saturn sections direct from the U.S. eastern seaboard and from the Uk.

Bar the launch site, the only real construction needed would be a decent harbor and more facilities at Wideawake

[PR19_Kit]

if your looking for an alternative UK aligned location near to the equator. Theres always Ascension Island.

No local population to displace, no Tourists either. Entry has always been very tightly controlled so every thing could be kept away from prying eyes, and It would be easy to ship the Saturn sections direct from the U.S. eastern seaboard and from the Uk.

Bar the launch site, the only real construction needed would be a decent harbor and more facilities at Wideawake

Yes, but the launch vehicle would pass over Africa a very short while after lift off. Ascension's pretty close to the coast, in spaceflight terms anyway.

[Weaver]

if your looking for an alternative UK aligned location near to the equator. Theres always Ascension Island.

No local population to displace, no Tourists either. Entry has always been very tightly controlled so every thing could be kept away from prying eyes, and It would be easy to ship the Saturn sections direct from the U.S. eastern seaboard and from the Uk.

Bar the launch site, the only real construction needed would be a decent harbor and more facilities at Wideawake

Yes, but the launch vehicle would over Africa a very short while after lift off. Ascension's pretty close to the coast, in spaceflight terms anyway.

Also, you might have astronauts coming down from an abort in some pretty dodgy places, both practically and politically.

[Weaver]

Fantsatic model work there!

I just don't get the backstory. Why would a govt spend billions on something like this for no public benefit? Surely it'd be something to shout about?

It's classified for security reasons - ie, I'm not clued-up enough on why the military would want moon bases/expeditions. You could say the same for Apollo, minus the shouting about it: what did it achieve?

All three branches of the US military put considerable effort into studying moon bases pre-Apollo. It was seen as the ultimate surveillance and nuclear retaliation option.

[NARSES2]

You could say the same for Apollo, minus the shouting about it: what did it achieve?

Teflon ? Pens that work upside down ? Although pencils already did that 

Seriously there were a fair few spin offs from the space programme that entered every day life. Teflon was one if I remember my "Tomorrow's World" from the 60/70's