To Mike Combs,
hope your trip to the International
Space Development Conference goes well.Even if there
is no water on the Moon,we could send an automated
ship to Jupiter or Saturn and skim some Hydrogen
from the upper atmosphere(as Dr.Robert Zubrin has
suggested) and combine it with the Oxygen in the
Lunar soil;or persuade a passing comet with an Ion
Engine into orbit about the Moon and extract the
Hydrogen from it for use in the construction of
Space Colonies and maintenance of a Mining crew
and Mass Driver on the Lunar Surface.I am sure the
People from Powersat.com will want to hear what you
have to say.I am wondering if Kenneth Silber from
TechCentralStation.com will be there,that is such a
good idea-buying Space Bonds!!!Anyway,maybe you'll
tell us about the conference when you get back ?
Cordially,John Hadden

To Mike Combs,
hope your trip to the International
Space Development Conference goes well. Thanks. Even if there
is no water on the Moon,we could send an automated
ship to Jupiter or Saturn and skim some Hydrogen
from the upper atmosphere(as Dr.Robert Zubrin has
suggested) and combine it with the Oxygen in the
Lunar soil; The only problem is that Jupiter and Saturn have such steep gravity wells. I'm a bit skeptical of any plan for obtaining resources from places with steeper gravity wells than the Earth. Although the Earth has a pretty steep gravity well, at least there's pre-existing industrial infrastructure here, and labor costs are lower. or persuade a passing comet with an Ion
Engine into orbit about the Moon and extract the
Hydrogen from it This is probably more doable. One might mitigate the outgassing which occurs this close to the sun bypositioning a sunshade made out of aluminized Mylarbetween the comet and the sun. I am sure the
People from Powersat.com will want to hear what you
have to say. I kind of doubt that. They don't seem to have any interest in use of space resources (which is what I'll be discussing) and even tend to favor SPS designs which don't require significant numbers of people in space for assembly. But if they can make it happen, then I'm all for whatever works. Anyway,maybe you'll
tell us about the conference when you get back ? You bet.