money is in short supply

Am 26.02.2011 04:57, schrieb Matt Gallimore:
>
> Forgive me for sounding too conventional,
>
no problem for me :-) .

> but how about this for asteroid
> mining:
> 1. Launch a rocket derived from shuttle external tank.
> 2. Assume it (with side mounted boosters) could send 25-30 ton of
> equipment to
> an asteroid.
>

How to finance this venture in terms of launch costs, if it is really
able to reach an asteroid
and return again?
You'll need at least 3 Ariane V launches, alone to get up your 30 tons
of equipment.
The Ariane V has a payload capacity of 9,6 to.
And you have to transport the mass of the boosters to the asteroid too.
There is a reason that the boosters are discarded after 20 seconds of
boosting,
when they are empty.

The SSPS should get away with about 500 kg - 1 ton of mass for the whole
mission
and with 1 single launch.

> 3. Mine a chondrite, which is high in water.
> 4. Bake mined material to remove volatiles.
> 5. Split volatiles between water and other stuff.
> 6. Split the water for H and O to go to the repective tanks in the
> rock. The
> other volatiles go to the nitrogen tank (mounted above the other two in a
> shuttle external tank design)
> 7. The remaining solids might be desiccated rock and powder which can
> be put
> into Santa Claus sized bags alongside the ship.
>
> Over the course of a few years, both liquid fuel tanks could be filled
> and many,
> many tons of asteroid solids bagged.
> A followup ship could take the rock bits and remove some iron and
> other metal to
> cast structural members. These standard parts could for the framework
> of a
> cylinder built around the first ship (now fueled). As the second ship
> gets
> restocked with volatiles, the scaffolding is built for slag.
>
> Pack the slag in the framework and fuse together.
>
I get you point. Framework (or a (inflatable) mold)
with a hull and loose materials filled into it might be
another way to get the radiation shield.
I did not quite understand what you want to fuse, (the slag or the
framework?)
and if you want to fuse the slag how you'll fuse it without harming the
framework.

Best wishes

Frank
>
> If you wanted a 20 meter ring for radiation shielding for transport,
> put a
> Bigelow inflatable inside and there you go.
>
> Solar sails can be used for bits, but the one shuttle derived vehicle
> could
> provide the plenty of manuevering thrust - alternatively lots of water
> for
> radiation sheilding.
>
Additional fuel for high thrust