🚀 go-pugleaf

You folks kill me...:)

After reading your posts on the shuttle moon question, I couldn't
help but join in.  The basic answer to the fundamental question here
is NO!!!!  The shuttle was designed for a maximum orbital height in
the order of 600 miles.  Granted, a circular orbit isn't the most
efficient way of transferring to the moon, but any sensible aerospace
engineer will tell you that it isn't going to happen regardless.

Getting the CSM to the moon and back (OK, the lunar module, too) is
a lot different from getting a DC-9 sized vehicle there and back.  If
you could, say in a wild hypothesis, fill the bay with Hydrogen and
Oxygen (or those nasty OMS fuels), you probably wouldn't have enough
to get there, let alone get back to Earth.  Nope, thanks to our great
former Vice President, we're in LEO, and in LEO we will stay.

-- Phil

P.S.  Delta V of 9 kps?  Is that from KSC??