money is in short supply

On Feb 18, 2011, at 2:15 PM, edpell wrote:

> Given the poor condition of the US and world economy it looks like
> we will need to bootstrap a space colony. That is use robots to pre-
> build a place and than just deliver the people.
>
I don't think we are anywhere near ready to start building a space
settlement right now. We need much better launch, the ability to
build really large things in space -- not just the settlement but the
power system and heat rejection, we need to understand small more-or-
less closed ecosystems, and about a million smaller issues.

I think the right thing to do now is to develop commercial markets
that will, in turn, develop the technology and infrastructure that
will, eventually, make it practical to start building actual
settlements. There are at least two such potential industries:
tourism and space solar power. In addition, if makes a lot of sense
for governments to find and catalog the near-earth objects for
planetary defense, and that catalog will come in quite handy to get
materials for orbital settlements.

For the long version of these ideas (or at least my version of them),
see http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/PathsToSpaceSettlement2009.pdf

>
> My guess is a 1000Kg payload delivered to a NEO and four 1000 Kg
> resupply follow-ups, spread over 8 years, would be enough to build a
> habitat for 250 people.
>
I would suggest working out the details -- figure out what equipment
you need and figure the mass of each bit. Don't forget the repair
shop and spares. I presume you are sending the gear out to turn NEO
materials into a settlement.

> We would need an object with a good supply of water. Do we know of
> any NEO with water?
>
Lots, perhaps even most, NEOs have ample quantities of water. For
example, some are extinct comets. The trickier bit is finding an NEO
with the metals you need for structures and the water and other
volatiles. If you can build the structure out of carbon compounds
that would be better as there are lots of NEOs with plenty of carbon
and water. That would, of course, suggest a much different equipment
and technology basis than working with metals.

>

Space Solar Power (SSP) can supply massive amounts of electrical power
to Earth with no greenhouse gas emissions and no dependence on the
Persian Gulf. The basic idea: gather solar energy in space and
transmit it to Earth. Today's satellites already use solar energy
and transmission has been demonstrated with 90%+ efficiency. If the
space segment is built from lunar materials, SSP may be the cleanest
possible energy option since most of the work is done in space. The
energy available is far, far more than used today, more than enough
for everyone.

Al Globus
http://alglobus.net

Views expressed in this email are only my opinions and are not the
position of any organization I'm familiar with.