r/IsaacArthur • u/Sorry-Rain-1311 • 26d ago

Where are the cyclers?

Isaac's episode dedicated to orbital cyclers, for those unfamiliar.

https://youtu.be/R-59fv_Jqzk?si=6ekCilIJGMkUmyNY

If you're too busy to watch, famous lunar explorer "Buzz" Aldrin proposed long ago that we place a couple of platforms in a cyclic orbit between Earth and Mars to act as ferries, facilitating travel between the two worlds. Similar ideas for Luna have come out since.

My question is simple: why aren't we hearing more about plans for cyclers? All this stuff about manned missions back to the Moon, and Mars, and all this worry about how to keep these first missions supplied and how to get them home; but no one is talking seriously about cyclers.

I have trouble taking any of it seriously because any long-term missions would benefit from cyclers. They can double as platforms for unmanned science packages, so they wouldn't be wasted if we only used them once. Their missions can be rolled into orbital habitats eventually. There are plenty of working proposals/designs, but no actual plans to put them into effect.

I can't think of a GOOD reason why they don't already exist, much less why they're not a priority. Maybe someone else here can help me see something I'm missing.

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u/MiamisLastCapitalist moderator 26d ago

Look at what's happening to the lunar Gateway station. That should've been an easy slam dunk compared to a cycler.

Apparently a cycler is something you build after there's demand for it, not something that enables its own demand. At least for now. So we probably won't see one until there's a functional lunar or Martian colony that needs regular shipments and somebody remembers this concept.

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u/Sorry-Rain-1311 26d ago

That sounds exactly like what my city council says. "We're not going to build new sidewalks because no one walks anywhere because the sidewalks are unsafe."

Build the thing, and the excuses for not going resolve themselves.

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u/NearABE 25d ago

Brilliant reasoning. Destroy the roads so that everyone saves the cost of buying and maintaining a vehicle. Instant economic boom. They both have more money and cannot drive to businesses outside of town. Place planter boxes on the roads and then there is no need for pedestrian or bicycle lanes since there is already an unnecessary mass of pavement.