Reusing ISS Alpha designs

I think that to
"leave the station there, and start mining the asteroid!"
would indeed be a preferable alternative, but that would take a lot more
cash than simply sending a mission there-and-back-again. My original
musings were on what NASA might do in human spaceflight in the post-ISS
Alpha era. If we assume that NASA is going to have virtually limitless
cash, then sure, go ahead and start mining those asteroids and the Moon
also. I predict that that NASA will have considerably less cash than
that. I think also that NASA will feel compelled to keep sending humans
into space because having humans in space is perceived as popular with the
US public. So my question is, "What could we suggest to NASA as the next
endeavor for humans in space, an endeavor that would fit within a budget
no greater than what we've spent on ISS?" My thought was to somehow
reuse/adapt ISS components and send them to a NEO.

[Clearly, as an aside, there are many other things that NASA could do with
robotics in space, and these would provide much greater bang for the buck
than human missions. But if NASA is going to continue to send humans
into space, then what types of missions should we at ssi_list encourage
NASA to undertake, given the foreseeable available dollars for such
ventures?]

Ron

"Colin Keizer" Colin_Keizer@...
11/12/02 09:48 PM

Whats this nonsense about bringing the second station BACK from an
asteroid?

Pick a *good* one, leave the station there, and start mining the
asteroid!

Colin Keizer

*good* = water plus carbon and other consumables.

> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 17:12:22 -0500
>

>
> One possibility I thought about was to build another space station in
> Earth orbit from modified ISS components, and then send it to
> a NEO with minimal crew. Go to the NEO, plant a flag, take pictures,

> gather some rocks, come home. Clearly, we have the know-how to build

> space stations in earth orbit, and we also know how to keep people
alive for