Sign up with GoogleWith the shuttle program now closed-down, NASA is stumbling around in their usual clueless fashion and are wondering what to do to justify their huge budgets and ego-stroking existence. I have a suggestion:
Colonise the Moon. And in the process learn the needed skills for the further exploitation of space. Besides, the Moon’s gravity well is a lot milder than Earth’s. Maybe run the project on free market principles rather than socialist, taxpayer-funded NASA. Richard Branson’s plans for his commercial space venture seem credible. He talks of short timescales. Not like NASA and molasses in sub-zero temperatures. Safety and profit are paramount for Branson (its space tourism). Brand names (Virgin) and reputations (Branson) are at stake. The basic philosophy of launch is different. NASA goes for expensive, polluting and complicated Saturn V rockets. Branson goes for high-flying, cheaper, less polluting and simpler launches into space. NASA has historically had a stranglehold on space stuff in the West. Thank goodness that is changing. Maybe now progress will be measured in months rather than decades.
The taxpayer funds NASA. There is no hurry to do anything (it’s not required to be profitable). Time is spent on empire building, recruiting a bloated bureaucracy and politicking. I would say that any actual space work, is 90% ensuring astronaut’s comfort and 10% space. When money runs-out, begging bowls are rattled at the government. In the time since the Moon landing, NASA may have done 5 years of space work (probably less). There is an expression – a camel is a horse designed by a committee. NASA specialised in designing camels. Committee’s were ruled by political expediency, personal enmities, nepotism, etc. They outranked the visionaries (who had their stuff rejected by camel designing committees). NASA risks losing the talent not locked-in with pensions, seniority, etc. A totally new launch system (different from the NASA camel) is being researched by Branson. NASA did do some good. Up until the Moon landing, NASA had vision. After that they lost the plot completely. Passionate space travel visionaries did join the 9 to 5 NASA clock-watchers (they had to - it was the only space travel game in town). Now that the dead hand of NASA is removed, space exploration can progress. There is a new game in town (Branson). NASA can be criticised for wasting time, but they must have huge archives of material from idealistic, passionate space visionaries before the life was crushed out of them by camel-designing NASA committees. If it was rejected by a NASA camel designing committees it is worth a 2nd look. If it was accepted, that would be the kiss of death for any idea. These archives could be a valuable trading resource.
It’s not unreasonable to suppose that another entrepreneur (minus the NASA stranglehold) may begin mining on the Moon and launching Branson’s hotel material into space from the Moon’s gravity well with magnetic launchers (you can’t do this on Earth). This will be much cheaper than even Branson’s cheap high-flying launches. Go for the Moon first. Excavate large underground caverns – for mining and hotel building material. Airtight seal the walls of the caverns. Extract the air from the mined material and provide the caverns with an atmosphere. Use submarine air scrubbing technology to constantly clean the air. There is an abundance of sunlight on the Moon and its constant, uninterrupted by weather etc. ‘Pipe’ it underground for light and heat. Use it to generate power. The depth of the caverns will protect them from nasty cosmic rays and stuff. Turn it all into a (Moon) hotel for the time being.
A space hotel will undoubtedly be built at the 3 ‘Le Grange’ points. These are points in space (between Earth and Moon) where the gravitational pull of the major attractors (Sun, Earth, Moon, Solar System) are nullified. ‘Tidal’ effects on structures and attitudinal jet adjustment requirements are minimised. I have my doubts about a space hotel. Cosmic ray and bone density (lack of gravity) problems will arise. Rather a long-term Moon hotel (where space exists for centrifugal ‘gravity’ simulators – bone density) and short-term (a week?) expeditions to the space hotel for the punters to experience weightlessness.
Building material for the hotels (and stuff that needs to be launched) will use a Moon-based ‘Rail Gun’ to shoot stuff into Moon orbit. A ‘Rail Gun’ will be a kilometre long rail with the termination tilted towards the sky. Along its length will a series of magnetic ‘repulsors’. The payload has a few metal bands around it. Each ‘repulsor’ accelerates the payload to ever-greater speed until it shoots off into the sky with a velocity large enough to escape the Moon’s gravity well. The power demands of the ‘Rail Gun’ will be huge (derived from uninterrupted sunlight - solar power). Corners can be cut and safety measures intended for idiots can be avoided (there are no idiots on the Moon) or property protection (no property) etc.
The whole commercialisation of space is an extremely expensive business. Branson can’t do it on his own. However, potential investors are watching him carefully. If Branson can pull-off his innovative launch procedure, they will rush to invest. Cheap launches (without the error-prone NASA Saturn V rockets) is fundamental to opening the ‘final frontier’. Although it is a high-risk investment, the rewards are mind-bogglingly huge. Another issue for Branson, is the space hotel. The kinks in catering to tourists in an extremely hostile environment can be ironed-out by catering to the Moon miners from the other major investors – Moon miners are guinea pigs for Branson. These can be considered as high-tech oil rig roughnecks. Pretty average blue collar types (not rocket scientists or drooling idiots) but capable of stringent safety and air discipline procedures. Because their absence from Earth will be prolonged, Branson’s Moon hotel must be 5 star (if not better). He can do it on the Moon.
Casualties
Of course there will be casualties (it’s a frontier, for Crise sake). The question is to take (voluntary) risks for a meaningful and highly paid end, or become an (involuntary) casualty in an insane war taking hill 451 (bla, bla) to satisfy some maniacal general who wants to keep his map neat. A 20% casualty rate is quite acceptable for this Earth shakingly important objective. Live casualty care will be 1st class because you are valuable (cynical view - in terms of the investment in you [not like cannon fodder]) and there is a need to refine (and define) space medicine.
Business case.
Cost saving [mining] can be accomplished as there are no environmental laws to comply with. The only issue would be aesthetic (the Moon face visible). This can be done by keeping the strip-mining operations on the dark side of the moon. Otherwise it would be......a moonscape. A big issue with mining, is the prodigious use of water. Water will be extremely scarce on the Moon. If waterless mining technologies can be developed and exported to a water-conscious Earth, the funds gained will pay for all their space adventures (and then some). If waterless mining technologies don’t bear fruit quickly enough, water will be precious and will be too costly to lift, in the required quantities, from the gravity well of Earth. The key would be to shepherd huge chunks of meteorite ice to the Moon’s surface. A small chunk might be the size of Texas – too big to shepherd and explosives need to be used to break-off a manageable hunk. The ice is made-up of H2O – rocket fuel (hydrogen and oxygen). A gadget which decomposes ice into its constituent parts via electrolysis is required to manufacture fuel. Water from the ice supplies the reaction mass. “But” (you ask) “doesn’t electrolysis require huge amounts of power?” Thin-film solar panels (which can cover acres if necessary and are more easily transportable). You have constant 24 hour sunlight unimpeded by cloud cover. As much power as you want. About a week? out from the Moon, high-tech roughnecks will match velocities with the ice chunk, kill any excessive velocity and make final fine-tuning trajectory (aiming) adjustments. Maybe shepherd it into a parking orbit around the Moon for later use. It will remain as ice.
A manned Mars mission is extremely premature. Any colony would have to be self-sustaining. It makes sense to practise on the Moon and get all ducks-in-a-row (baby steps 1st). A big issue are the ‘Biosphere’ projects. Biosphere 2 is in Arizona. Biosphere 3 is in Siberia. Wikipedia has details and a google search produces millions of hits.
Extract from Wikipedia
Space! The final frontier.
Colonise the Moon. And in the process learn the needed skills for the further exploitation of space. Besides, the Moon’s gravity well is a lot milder than Earth’s. Maybe run the project on free market principles rather than socialist, taxpayer-funded NASA. Richard Branson’s plans for his commercial space venture seem credible. He talks of short timescales. Not like NASA and molasses in sub-zero temperatures. Safety and profit are paramount for Branson (its space tourism). Brand names (Virgin) and reputations (Branson) are at stake. The basic philosophy of launch is different. NASA goes for expensive, polluting and complicated Saturn V rockets. Branson goes for high-flying, cheaper, less polluting and simpler launches into space. NASA has historically had a stranglehold on space stuff in the West. Thank goodness that is changing. Maybe now progress will be measured in months rather than decades.
The taxpayer funds NASA. There is no hurry to do anything (it’s not required to be profitable). Time is spent on empire building, recruiting a bloated bureaucracy and politicking. I would say that any actual space work, is 90% ensuring astronaut’s comfort and 10% space. When money runs-out, begging bowls are rattled at the government. In the time since the Moon landing, NASA may have done 5 years of space work (probably less). There is an expression – a camel is a horse designed by a committee. NASA specialised in designing camels. Committee’s were ruled by political expediency, personal enmities, nepotism, etc. They outranked the visionaries (who had their stuff rejected by camel designing committees). NASA risks losing the talent not locked-in with pensions, seniority, etc. A totally new launch system (different from the NASA camel) is being researched by Branson. NASA did do some good. Up until the Moon landing, NASA had vision. After that they lost the plot completely. Passionate space travel visionaries did join the 9 to 5 NASA clock-watchers (they had to - it was the only space travel game in town). Now that the dead hand of NASA is removed, space exploration can progress. There is a new game in town (Branson). NASA can be criticised for wasting time, but they must have huge archives of material from idealistic, passionate space visionaries before the life was crushed out of them by camel-designing NASA committees. If it was rejected by a NASA camel designing committees it is worth a 2nd look. If it was accepted, that would be the kiss of death for any idea. These archives could be a valuable trading resource.
It’s not unreasonable to suppose that another entrepreneur (minus the NASA stranglehold) may begin mining on the Moon and launching Branson’s hotel material into space from the Moon’s gravity well with magnetic launchers (you can’t do this on Earth). This will be much cheaper than even Branson’s cheap high-flying launches. Go for the Moon first. Excavate large underground caverns – for mining and hotel building material. Airtight seal the walls of the caverns. Extract the air from the mined material and provide the caverns with an atmosphere. Use submarine air scrubbing technology to constantly clean the air. There is an abundance of sunlight on the Moon and its constant, uninterrupted by weather etc. ‘Pipe’ it underground for light and heat. Use it to generate power. The depth of the caverns will protect them from nasty cosmic rays and stuff. Turn it all into a (Moon) hotel for the time being.
A space hotel will undoubtedly be built at the 3 ‘Le Grange’ points. These are points in space (between Earth and Moon) where the gravitational pull of the major attractors (Sun, Earth, Moon, Solar System) are nullified. ‘Tidal’ effects on structures and attitudinal jet adjustment requirements are minimised. I have my doubts about a space hotel. Cosmic ray and bone density (lack of gravity) problems will arise. Rather a long-term Moon hotel (where space exists for centrifugal ‘gravity’ simulators – bone density) and short-term (a week?) expeditions to the space hotel for the punters to experience weightlessness.
Building material for the hotels (and stuff that needs to be launched) will use a Moon-based ‘Rail Gun’ to shoot stuff into Moon orbit. A ‘Rail Gun’ will be a kilometre long rail with the termination tilted towards the sky. Along its length will a series of magnetic ‘repulsors’. The payload has a few metal bands around it. Each ‘repulsor’ accelerates the payload to ever-greater speed until it shoots off into the sky with a velocity large enough to escape the Moon’s gravity well. The power demands of the ‘Rail Gun’ will be huge (derived from uninterrupted sunlight - solar power). Corners can be cut and safety measures intended for idiots can be avoided (there are no idiots on the Moon) or property protection (no property) etc.
The whole commercialisation of space is an extremely expensive business. Branson can’t do it on his own. However, potential investors are watching him carefully. If Branson can pull-off his innovative launch procedure, they will rush to invest. Cheap launches (without the error-prone NASA Saturn V rockets) is fundamental to opening the ‘final frontier’. Although it is a high-risk investment, the rewards are mind-bogglingly huge. Another issue for Branson, is the space hotel. The kinks in catering to tourists in an extremely hostile environment can be ironed-out by catering to the Moon miners from the other major investors – Moon miners are guinea pigs for Branson. These can be considered as high-tech oil rig roughnecks. Pretty average blue collar types (not rocket scientists or drooling idiots) but capable of stringent safety and air discipline procedures. Because their absence from Earth will be prolonged, Branson’s Moon hotel must be 5 star (if not better). He can do it on the Moon.
Casualties
Of course there will be casualties (it’s a frontier, for Crise sake). The question is to take (voluntary) risks for a meaningful and highly paid end, or become an (involuntary) casualty in an insane war taking hill 451 (bla, bla) to satisfy some maniacal general who wants to keep his map neat. A 20% casualty rate is quite acceptable for this Earth shakingly important objective. Live casualty care will be 1st class because you are valuable (cynical view - in terms of the investment in you [not like cannon fodder]) and there is a need to refine (and define) space medicine.
Business case.
Cost saving [mining] can be accomplished as there are no environmental laws to comply with. The only issue would be aesthetic (the Moon face visible). This can be done by keeping the strip-mining operations on the dark side of the moon. Otherwise it would be......a moonscape. A big issue with mining, is the prodigious use of water. Water will be extremely scarce on the Moon. If waterless mining technologies can be developed and exported to a water-conscious Earth, the funds gained will pay for all their space adventures (and then some). If waterless mining technologies don’t bear fruit quickly enough, water will be precious and will be too costly to lift, in the required quantities, from the gravity well of Earth. The key would be to shepherd huge chunks of meteorite ice to the Moon’s surface. A small chunk might be the size of Texas – too big to shepherd and explosives need to be used to break-off a manageable hunk. The ice is made-up of H2O – rocket fuel (hydrogen and oxygen). A gadget which decomposes ice into its constituent parts via electrolysis is required to manufacture fuel. Water from the ice supplies the reaction mass. “But” (you ask) “doesn’t electrolysis require huge amounts of power?” Thin-film solar panels (which can cover acres if necessary and are more easily transportable). You have constant 24 hour sunlight unimpeded by cloud cover. As much power as you want. About a week? out from the Moon, high-tech roughnecks will match velocities with the ice chunk, kill any excessive velocity and make final fine-tuning trajectory (aiming) adjustments. Maybe shepherd it into a parking orbit around the Moon for later use. It will remain as ice.
A manned Mars mission is extremely premature. Any colony would have to be self-sustaining. It makes sense to practise on the Moon and get all ducks-in-a-row (baby steps 1st). A big issue are the ‘Biosphere’ projects. Biosphere 2 is in Arizona. Biosphere 3 is in Siberia. Wikipedia has details and a google search produces millions of hits.
Extract from Wikipedia
Space! The final frontier.
