ISS: It's All Decked Out. Give It Somewheto Go

ISS: It's All Decked Out. Give It Somewhere to Go
ISS: It's All Decked Out. Give It Something to Do!

Ion drives would be an excellent way for the ISS to get around. As for shielding beyond the Van Allen Belt, large water tanks would work.

From what I remember of the last NSS convention the European Space port in South America were building launch facilities for Russian Rockets. I don't recall what the agreements were between Europe and Russia.

Just as somewhere to go, how about something to do. Here is a list right off the top of my head.

Have rockets send up parts for the ISS to build.
* A prototype SPS, you build it and test it at the ISS. Slap an Ion drive on it and send it off.
* A prototype microgravity manufacturing facility.
* A small habitat, farming and aqua-farming could be started in space.
* A load of standardized parts to build standardized cheaper space probes.
* A prototype solar sail.
* A very large Space Telescope. Start looking for Earthlike planets with O2 atmospheres.

The ISS should be a beehive of expansion and activity. A fuel depot, a facility for creating technology for manned space construction a jumping off point to other parts of the solar system. This is a simple no brainer of manned expansion into the solar system.

You know just as a thought we could always expand the ISS with a large rotating space station like 2001 and create the technology for simulating gravity.

BestRegards,
Pete