There will be two major sub-pages (or subsets of pages): one for orbital considerations (eventually with a nifty display of where my fictional cycler currently is) and one for the design of the cycler ship itself (size, design, etc.). The pages will include Java or JavaScript bits to compute orbits, design parameters, etc.
Maybe this should be organized as a Wiki to allow others to contribute ...
I originally considered a Mars cycler, following some NASA proposals for Mars exploration. However, commercially it may be best to go straight to a cycler into the asteroid belt. The orbits and requirements are similar, so maybe the decision can be postponed...
We assume there is no viable "fast transit" technology, like an Orion-type nuclear ship or continuous, significant low-level acceleration. Therefore interplanetary travel will take a long time.
The Economic Viability of Mars Colonization by Robert Zubrin. Details of costs and economics assuming an Earth-Mars cycler. Compares with colonization of the New World.
Interplanetary Round Trip Mission Design by James R. Wertz, 2003. More detailed math about possible mission profiles.
An October 2002 article about Aldrin and Purdue scientists design a cycler. (Note to self: investigate these people: how far along are they? Do they have stuff on the web?)
From Don Dixon's Cosmographica: "The spaceliner Xanadu swings past Mars on a return trip to Earth in this depiction of Buzz Aldrin's Mars Cycler proposal".
A Mars Human Exploration Mission Scenario from 1984. It includes great pictures of the launch, cruise, exploration, and return of a cycler ship.
The Lunar Institute of Technology has links about human factors engineering, basics of space flight, etc. in its Reference Library.
This page was created 21 January 2004 by Paul E. Black.
This page was last updated 28 January 2004.
This page's URL is http://www.geocities.com/p.black/Cycler/.