Skip to main content
Worldbuilding

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

4
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Mars Surveyor's launch window was 6-25 Nov 1996. So you can be delayed days and still not be delayed years. $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 17:52
  • $\begingroup$ The OP suggests there is a fair bit of space traffic, so while the window might be open for several days, your slot at the spaceport might have to be cleared very quickly so another spaceship can be loaded and launched. $\endgroup$
    – Thucydides
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 17:55
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ This is based on the assumption that launches must take place during (or near) the minimum distance between the origin and destination. While that's a safe assumption now, it's probably not in a future with regular interplanetary travel, particularly for transports launched from LEO, rather than from the surface, as "launching" from LEO takes vastly less fuel to achieve escape velocity. Sure, it will take longer, and be more expensive when your planets are further apart, but that doesn't mean it will be impossible or even cost-prohibitive. $\endgroup$
    – HopelessN00b
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 23:15
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Even if there is a few days give in the launch window there is always an end point where one more delay will mean missing the entire window. $\endgroup$
    – Stig Hemmer
    Commented Dec 15, 2016 at 8:15