Earth-Moon Network = Maturing Space Industries

In a message dated 9/2/02 2:43:28 PM, jdr7181@... writes:

<< Yes, but dreams have only spawned discussion. Nothing of any real
significance has been done. And that is tragic. It could have been and
should have been. Let's stop dreaming of it and start doing it. Let's
define what has to be done in the next 10 years (alternative mission
concepts, cost models and profitability, etc.) and the next 25 years. Let's
come as close to a consensus as possible within this community. Of course,
that is probably just a dream. Perhaps we will never agree.>>

Ok, Jack, I didn't read that post before I wrote my prior answer. So, I will
try my best to your other questions.

To start with the dream part. First thing is that I want to tell how I came
to be very interested in colonization. Last year in Feb 2001, I was feeling
frustrated about my art career when I came onto The High Froniter by O'Neil.
I was very impressed by his large scale vision and found it challeneging. My
domant interest in space was revived. I decided that I want to live on Island
One be a player in creation of new civilization. So I sat down and asked
myself how do I do about it? I'm not a scienist, enginner or any of usual
subjects. I also knew it would cost billions and I also know people just
ain't going to throw money at it outside very small minority of angels. But
my parents are (very) small businessmen and I has watched them running
network business and Merle Norman costemics and even done sales and marketing
even in my art life. So I was comfortable with business in technical sense.
So I decided to build up my capital, network and experience by starting up a
lot of businesses. Right now, I have a toy start-up in work with what I call
"masterpiece toys" or "art toys" that I think will be a good start. I has
been doing my homework in meantime.

First thing first, before drawing up business plans, it's important to me
that we understand that technical experience is not same as business.
Management and enginnering are very different roles and a lot of small
business and start-up will fail because people don't plans for that weakness.
There's four kinds of mindsets in understanding and making money, employee,
self-employee, business and investor. Techincals belong in employee and
self-employee because they are specialized in small details to make the whole
system work smoothly. Businessman have to build a system itself, a system
that run itself smoothly before it can attract investors. The reason is that
if a good businessman leave to create more businesses, get sick, or died, the
system will still make money for the investors regardless of what happened to
him. I recommend "Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant" and "The E-Myth revisted"
because they really touch on the fundmental weakness in a lot of business
schemes. I know that I struggled for a long time being artist because I was
self-employed which mean that I AM my own system. If I get sick, no money.
Nobody want to invest in me like this!

So in order to create infrastruture in space, our first job is to create
working profit-making systems on earth that will make profit no matter what
happened to us! Another thing I recommend is that once some earth based
business start making money, is that some of those profits be reinvested in
real estate that are rentable or leaseable, because a stable cashflow can
cover a lot of downturns during the struggle to build in space. The valuable
land can also be used to service loans from banks which could be useful for
the deveolpment of tools and products. I stress that this is merely an
opinion of a fresh investor. If you want to investigate it, get somebody with
experience in your town you live in to show you some rope. I think also that
a lot of ideas for space tools can be used for earth use which can create a
solid profits that can be used to develope space tools. A lot of robots can
be used as a staring base. Also, because space community is very small, you
really need good public relations and marketing people and business in order
to build up your market credit with people. Let's keep this business talk
short by adding one more thing: cut down your market size to something more
niche. This will make creation of a successful start-up more likely and with
far lower overhead and simpler structure which can free up far more capital
for development. I got this from Richard Koch's outstanding book The 80/20
Principle. Koch also point out it's better for different people to follow
different paths because specializing in different jobs tends to speed up the
entire economy and culture. So even if entire space community don't share
your dream or goals, it really don't matter in long run as long as you have a
small network of different people with different skills will to work
together. You don't need masses, you need a solid vanguard.

<<1. What about the order in which we establish these posts or stations?
Currently, the order I listed is first LEO, second is L2 above the Moon,
third is the Moon itself, and fourth is an asteroid post. What practical,
reasonable reason(s) do we have for changing that order?

2. Are there other locations that we should consider? Are those four
elements enough to constitute an Earth-Moon Network (ie, the necessary
infrastructure to support industry)?>>

I already state that LEO station must be first in other post. The second
should be moon because 1) we need to deal with creating a free system of
private property title. 2) helium -3 would make a perfect fuel for fusion
drive which can open space wider for lower cost. Also, we can use it to build
a cheap MRI scanners for homes and cancer infirmaries. Very potential for
profits here. 3) the far side will make idea place for NEO danger watch which
can be a profitable business for people who sell data to the nervous earth
states and also to businesses seeking a suitable rock to survey (thanks to L.
Neil Smith for this excellent idea!). The third wasn't meationed in the quto
but it should be a LEO plant nursey for both food crops and biotech
experiments which can adds another cashflow and lesser cost of life support
systems. The fourth should be a very small metal NEO to be hauled to orbit
around moon or L2 with fusion drive for mining experiments and heavy duty
industrials. Then a small (very small) station be build close to the NEO in
L2 as the base for future colonies. Its main job at first will be research
and some factorywork. But when ships reach the belt, that station will become
the first port to access the hauls from the belt for transfer to moon, LEO or
earth.

Carl E. Mullin
visionary artist and entrepreneur
homo asteralis
ravenart@...
www.ravenartstudio.com

The more you love, the more you can love-and the more intensely you love.
Nor is there any limit on how many you can love.
If a person had time enough, he could love all of the majority who are
decent and just.
-Robert A. Heinlein (Time Enough For Love)