One of the engineers, Alena Ostrov, interrupts, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but how heavy are the Mars landers, when they’re fully loaded?” “Including the ascent rocket? I don’t know the figure for the Chinese, but the American outpost can’t be more than 106 tons.” “We can take it,” she says curtly, holding up her computer, “If we modified the propellant tanks before it goes up next year, why couldn’t the Juggernaut move something that size into Martian orbit?” “I’m glad to hear you say that,” I say, smiling, “and yes, it would take a hell of a long time, but a trip like that is well within the Juggernaut’s abilities.”

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	Ignition pg. 5 || 12/10/2010