Critical time

>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>
> A Mars project would not be as bad as you think if it is not cut
abruptly as
> the Apollo program. A Mars travel asks for the same delta vee as a
trip to
> Phobos or Deimos, both are made from common asteroid stuff. A mass
driver on
> one of these small world would launch at low cost the raw material
for a
> space settlement. In space, what count is not distance, it is
energy or delta
> vee. In that respect, the martian satellites are are better target
than the
> Moon. They are too the rearest asteroids-like object at hand.
>

I feel this is unrealistic. It is too far to go to fetch your initial
materials when the Moon and NEAs are so much easier to get to.

Also what you have got to remember is that Phobos andDeimos are in
quite tight orbits around Mars and are to some extent in Mars's
gravity well.

Mark
> It is unlikely that a large program would be aimed to some
asteroid, so a
> Mars project with a Phobos additive is the best first step we can
envision.
>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> A phobos refueling station would be an obvious first step. It is
also worth
> remembering that Phobos and Deimos are fragmented 'rubble piles'
containing a
> great deal of empty space. If fisures or cavities exist that are on
the order of
> 20 metres in diameter, then simple inflatable structures could be
erected within
> them, to provide habitation space. It wouldn't surprise me if, 150
years from