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> Behalf Of *Arthur Smith
>
> Zubrin argued that the cost of in-flight assembly is so
> excessive that completely negates the lower launch costs,
>
> I've noticed this about Zubrin before, that he seems to view orbital
> assembly as exceedingly difficult and to be avoided at all costs. And
> I don't think that ISS can rightly be pointed to as an example of the
> extreme expense of space assembly. ISS might well have turned out a
> bit cheaper with fewer Skylab-sized modules than more
> Shuttle-cargo-bay-sized ones, but I think the costs associated with
> the interminable delays and setbacks would have completely swamped that.
> [...]

Yeah - as we always tell the politicians, the money spent on space
doesn't go to people in space, it goes to people here on the ground. But
delay just builds up that money spent on the ground without anything
being done in space.

I'd really like to see a realistic analysis of space construction costs
- where do the expenses come in? Is it the cost of up-front design to
have things fit together properly? The cost of additional materials that
need to be sent up for construction but aren't needed when it's done
(robot arms, human transports, etc.)? The cost of inevitable delays when
something doesn't work the first time? Simply the time it takes for
humans to do anything in space and the cost of putting together an EVA
at all? What is the key expense here that needs to be improved? Anybody
have a clue?

Arthur