Comments

The shuttle is simply the wrong vehicle for anything other than earth orbit missions. For a Mars mission just retrofitting the Shuttle so it would have power for the entire flight would involve more than designing and building a completely new vehicle. And power is only one element out of many that would have to be addressed. The shuttle also has some very difficult problems when it comes to lunar missions. Assuming that the shuttle could be refueled on orbit so it could make the trip to the moon the reentry velocity from the moon is much higher than that from low Earth orbit aproximately 25,000 miles per hour vs a bit over 17,000 miles per hour. The heat shield tiles are not designed for that kind of thermal load and the structure would be stressed beyond limit. Sorry, It is a fun idea but the numbers just aren't there. Charles Ivie Retired NASA scientist

Great concept but lets remember that waves and tides are two very different things. Waves are primarily caused by surface wind and as such are a form of wind energy. Tides are caused by the moving gravitational fields of the Moon and to a lesser degree the Sun. Both of these energy sources are truly enormous and unlimited and best of all they are available 24-7.

As Pogo Possum once observed:. "Some say there is other intelligent life in the universe, some others say we are the most intelligent and advanced creatures in the universe. Either way, it's a mighty sobering thought." Considering that the building blocks for life "as we know it" have been found in many locations in space it seems likely that we are not alone. And what can we say about Life "as we don't know it?" Not much.