Automated Transfer Vehicles

> > I think it's a good idea (worth considering further, anyway). And I
also agree with your general principle, which I'd put this way: once you have
some habitable volume in orbit, you KEEP it there; you don't throw it away
That's valuable real estate. <<

> The ISS has a limited number of ports where vehicles can dock. If you
keep everything that comes up docked, you very quickly run out of ports and
cannot bring anything up ever again. >

Right, that's why I suggested a (daisy-chainable) docking module.

_jwsmith42000@..._ (mailto:jwsmith42000@...) wrote On 3/8/11
9:00 AM --

_joe@..._ (mailto:joe@...) replied at 3/8/2011 11:25:34 A.M.
Eastern Standard Time:

> So, why haven't someone built a 8 to 20 port module where the things can
be stored. >

What a good idea. :)

> I would like to go up there and farm and I can do it. I could also
recycle
> everything in orbit and keep it in a close orbit to the ISS and could
sell
> them the things they have to have instead of sending up more every so
often.

What do you mean by "I can do it"? If you'd like to, and you can, then
why haven't you?

Best, - Joe

Joe, good questions always. I will answer the second before I get to the
first.

When I was discharged from the US Army in 1967, the first thing I did was
to get married to my childhood sweetheart. Both of us being lower middle
class economically we decided we wanted to chase money. The first year we
made a million dollars, the second we did better but by the time we got to the
tenth year chasing money had ruined our lives and marriage. I gave her
everything and walked out the door, never to look back.
A couple years later I remarried to a woman who wanted to concentrate on
raising children and we did.
4 of our own plus almost a hundred others from several weeks to 10 years
or more. Paid for it all out of our pocket. Never took a dime from the
Government. Then she wanted to go to law school to better be able to defend the
children. She became a socialist and joined them and that was when it was
time for me to leave again. Gave her everything, except the farm and my
children. It took until the year 2000 to finish raising my children by myself.

Now for your first question. - I stopped appreciating NASA in 1972. Never
did really trust or like the government and eventually felt the same about
NASA.
I never understood why they wanted to build a breakable machine to try to
do everything that had to be done. There will not be a Wal-Mart or Home
Depot just around the corner.
I wondered why they wanted to build machines to do jobs that could better
be done by nature. I decided back in 1973 that cleaning the air and water
could better be done by nature and knew that I or another private individual
would have to be the one that did it. So, I set to studying the situation,
reading almost every thing I could about living off earth. I have even
read most of what Mike and you have written looking for tidbits of
information.

For the most part it was always, lets build a machine to get things done.
I studied agriculture as far back as 3000 years to find information and am
satisfied that I can do it.
Now I am just waiting for a ride and the money to pay the fare.
I spent most of last week in Kansas talking to people about that.

John Wayne Smith, CEO
1000 Planets, Inc.
203 W. Magnolia Street
Leesburg, Florida 34748