Remember when I mentioned that I thought Bigelow would get the 1st chance at habitats on the moon?...
Bigelow Aerospace and NASA say they've agreed to look at ways for private ventures to contribute to human exploration missions, perhaps including construction of a moon base. But the space agency emphasized that it's keeping its own focus squarely on corraling an asteroid and then going to Mars.
http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/04/bigelow-aerospace-nasa-consider-moon.html
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss
SpaceWatchtower Blog:
The most important requirement for life is water. I think future space
missions should focus on this, whether we search for water on the Moon, the
asteroids or on Mars. So far we know that there was plenty of water on Mars
- once upon a time - (interesting, but that is not what we are looking for).
A single asteroid could offer up billions or even tens of billions of
dollars (depending on size and composition) in mineral wealth even if it
cost a billion or two to mine. Thats not even factoring the water, which
itself becomes a precious commodity in the decidedly dry climate of space.
As such, initial exploration will focus on water-rich asteroids, as
Planetary Resources appears to view its goal of establishing a means to
harvest and supply water in space to be of equal importance to extracting
precious metals.
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-04/why-mining-asteroid-water-and-metals-isnt-quite-crazy-it-sounds
On 24 April 2013 12:33, Victor Smith wrote:
If you mean water for the life of the colonists then we know that even
the Moon has frozen water enough to sustain a moderately large colony.
And Mars has *lots* of frozen water everywhere in the underground of
the planet, as satellite radar mapping and probes on the surface have
already shown.
Selvaraj,
amounts of water in Saturn's moons. Plus, there's apparently water ice on
the moon, and potentially anywhere not exposed to direct solar radiation to
evaporate it. I would venture to say that supplies of water, oxygen and
hydrogen will not be the limiting factor they were once thought to be.
Instead, once we can get into deep space, we'll probably find plenty of
water resources. That is, after all, the premise behind Planetary Resources
business model, and, looking at their board, I for one believe they'll
succeed. Given any level of success at all, I believe it will precipitate a
new 'gold' rush as companies scramble to get a piece of the pie. And THAT
is gonna make OUR collective day, cause the one thing they'll ALL need is
space habitats, and what most will, by default, become is Space settlers!
From: sraj
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 1:23 PM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Bigelow Aerospace & NASA Consider Moon Base
The most important requirement for life is water. I think future space
missions should focus on this, whether we search for water on the Moon, the
asteroids or on Mars. So far we know that there was plenty of water on Mars
- once upon a time - (interesting, but that is not what we are looking for).
Selvaraj
A single asteroid could offer up billions or even tens of billions of
dollars (depending on size and composition) in mineral wealth even if it
cost a billion or two to mine. Thats not even factoring the water, which
itself becomes a precious commodity in the decidedly dry climate of space.
As such, initial exploration will focus on water-rich asteroids, as
Planetary Resources appears to view its goal of establishing a means to
harvest and supply water in space to be of equal importance to extracting
precious metals.
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-04/why-mining-asteroid-water-and-metals-isnt-quite-crazy-it-sounds
On 24 April 2013 12:33, Victor Smith wrote:
We are likely to be ok for water on the lunar poles, extremely dry otherwise though. Mars likely won't be a problem, lots of evidence for water, just need to find the current locations. The solar system is very full of water. Lots of icey moonlets passed the 'snow line' as well as defunct comets floating about.
Brooks
chances are NASAs got it in mind to tie the lunar hab in with the asteroid capture mission if they can- quarters w/ grav in the neighborhood of where theyre gonna park it. And if the mission is successful as we all hope it will be, theres a good chance that either NASA or Planetary Resources or some competitor will be hurrying to rinse and repeat. Chances are good that at least one of the first few smples will be a carbonaceous chondrite that may have substantial amounts of water ice in its makeup, or maybe an old cometary mass. Either would go a long way to making up any deficits in water at moonbase.
From: brooksn
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 4:58 AM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Bigelow Aerospace & NASA Consider Moon Base
Brooks
--- In mailto:spacesettlers%40yahoogroups.com, Lucio de Souza Coelho wrote: