this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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That would make things worse, because now you're carrying the extra mass of fuel, tanks, plumbing and engines for the descent. Can't run a rocket engine on two different types of fuel and oxidizer.
The rocket equation is a harsh mistress. As long as you're limited to chemical rockets, you're not gonna have enough spare propellant for a powered descent. The energy density just isn't there. We don't do direct burns to pretty much anywhere farther than Mars and a Mars Hohmann transfer (the most fuel-efficient trajectory) burn takes ~3.6km/s. Less than half of LEO velocity.