If Spacex can get Starship flying in the next three years, I would think they could meet this deadline. Unlike Mars, there aren't the same launch window requirements.
Even if Starship isn't flying, Falcon Heavy is the best we have today. It would seem that if anyone is going to meet this deadline, it'll be Spacex.
AFAIK you could do it with multiple Falcon Heavy launches (with in orbit rendezvous) and something to put a Dragon on top of that would act like the Lunar descent stage. Then you could use Dragon as the ascent and return stage. You'd probably have an orbital module too since going to/from the Moon in just a Dragon would probably be too cramped.
Everything but the Dragon and the Falcon boosters would be expendable, but that's more reusability than Saturn V.
I suppose what I meant to ask is, does anyone have any evidence of this being actually true? If so, how would one specifically mimic a closed lid? In lieu of us doing our own experiments, has anyone discovered the appropriate size/strength magnet, and precisely where it could be placed, or whatever other tactic, to activate this hardware switch?
I have wondered how it is that my Mac Plus became a machine with almost no noticeable delays when I upgraded to 4mb ram, and now I have 8gb of ram, and a less responsive system. I realize my system is far more dynamic today. I just wonder if one day we'll be using systems with 4tb of ram that would be snappier if upgraded to 8tb or 16tb.
Given the nature of open source, I'd be surprised if there isn't a alternative for less dynamic, less resource req, systems. Is there a system out there that still uses fewer commands?
I don't know how to ask this next question, so please bare with me.. Are there any modern systems that don't require modern hardware, but are just more efficient versions of past systems?
I have been happy with the way I could use my computer for the last 20 years (probably earlier, too).. so are there any efforts to keep the simplicity of older systems that were adequate for most, make them more efficient, and either have "super hardware", or I suppose very cheap hardware?
Thanks for anyone who made it through my ignorant ramblings.
In the unix-compatible world, you could take a look at openbsd as an example of OS that is not growing exponentially. Yet, the web browsers are the same two beasts that you find elsewhere in linuxes.
For a more radical approach to what you ask, look at plan9. There are some modern forks that run on modern hardware.
I know that some people are only as efficient as they're forced to be. I hope there are efforts to take what is needed, and make it more efficient. There are efforts like Commander X16 to make a new 8 bit computer, and others where people are rewriting things in Rust..
BTW, I have a first gen iPad sitting around that worked very the first two years or so of its existence, and it barely functions today. I know part of that is Apple "protecting" older batteries by slowing down older stuff so we go out and buy new things, but I would like to believe that we're capable or creating an OS for that hardware today that would run better than it did originally, rather than barely function at all.
"I have wondered how it is that my Mac Plus became a machine with almost no noticeable delays when I upgraded to 4mb ram"
I remember when I ran the original MacPaint (I assume it was in hand optimized assembler?) on a 16 MHz 68030 and it was amazing - everything seemed to simply be instantaneous. It put in perspective how when the 68000 came out, it was a "minicomputer on a chip" and the 68030 was conceived as a "mainframe on a chip".
Even if Starship isn't flying, Falcon Heavy is the best we have today. It would seem that if anyone is going to meet this deadline, it'll be Spacex.