MUOL

Well, finally I see what you're talking about. A very informative
post. It's very similar to an orbital communications array. I even
recall reading a discussion of how something like this might be
attached to the ISS, but I think that went down the tubes.

As a stand-alone endeavor, one designed to assist companies in doing
research in orbit, I think it makes a lot of sense, but you didn't
address anywhere in the post the starting point of your thread,
which was the Marshall Savage 4-step paradigm that you laid out and
how this is critical to that process. That's what I'm really having
trouble conceptualizing. Stand-alone, yeah it makes sense, but
you'll have to hold my hand :) and lead me to how you conclude that
it is essential to the Savage process.

Nicely done post, BTW.

--- In spacesettlers@y..., Jack Reynolds wrote:
>
> MUOL Mission Statement
>
> The industrial and economic potential of space-based product
research and
> development is unknown but almost certainly enormous. We live in
an age of
> exotic materials and refined gadgets. Various refined environments
are
> necessary for some of their production -- very low or very high
pressures
> of air or other gasses and combinations of gasses, high
gravitation
> (achieved in a centrifuge), high or idiosyncratic (e.g.,
pulsating)
> magnetic fields, very high or very low temperatures, etc. It is
obvious to
> postulate that conditions available in space but not on Earth
(particularly
> micro gravity) would be essential to the manufacture and use of
some
> further exotic materials and products' manufacture and use.
>
> Technological limits on space exploration are giving way to those
of
> policies, politics, and economics. Due to these constraints it is
difficult
> for industries to develop new products and technologies in the
unique
> environment of space. We need to develop a means whereby industry
can
> utilize the space environment without being over burdened by the
hurdles
> current policies, politics, and economics pose.
>
> MUOL Mission Objectives
>
> To provide support services for research and commercial production
in Earth
> orbit via a common backplane that multiple experimental and
industrial
> users can plug into, thereby reducing individual cost hopefully to
a
> manageable level.
>
> MUOL Introduction
>
> The environment in Earth orbit is likely to be a valuable one for
several
> areas of research and commercial production. In particular a micro-
gravity
> environment cannot be duplicated on the Earth's surface. And it
seems that
> micro-gravity may be very important for developing certain crystal
> structures and other sorts of delicate materials.
>
> However, the costs of research and development, and of production,
in Earth
> orbit could be very high. Consider the relative difficulties (and
> therefore, expense) of putting a particular kind of materials lab
or
> factory on a landfill in New Jersey compared with putting it on a
space
> station in orbit around the Earth. Merely having raw materials
delivered
> and products moved out to market present serious obstacles. And
consider
> maintenance and repair of the facility. Consider having employees
come and
> go. It is not unreasonable to guess that an orbiting site would
cost 10 or
> 100 times as much as a comparable land-based site.
>
> Is there any way to ameliorate the costs? Consider again the
comparison
> with a facility on the ground (say, in New Jersey). Such a ground-
based
> operation does not need to provide its own police or fire
departments, its
> own rubbish removal, its own power supply, its own housing or
> transportation for employees, etc. These expenses are greatly
lessened
> because they are shared, in effect, with "the neighbors." A common
power,
> waste, transportation, etc. infrastructure greatly reduces the
cost to each
> individual participant.
>
> But in space there are no "neighbors" to share infrastructural
costs. Or
> are there? Suppose it were possible to create a
cooperative "neighborhood."
> Suppose it were possible to set up a sort of "mother ship" that
could
> provide power, transportation, communications, radiation
protection, etc.
> to several "client" baby ships. If, in this way, the "babies"
could share
> among themselves much of the infrastructural costs, it might
significantly
> reduce the costs to each of them of "doing business" in space.
>
> That is the dream -- the mission -- of creating a MUOL system, a
> "backplane" or common infrastructure availability for Modular
Unmanned
> Orbiting Laboratories.
>
> Why "Modular"? Because planning for clients to be able to use a
> standardized interface greatly reduces the overall cost. That is
why debris
> boxes have a standard size and shape, a standard lid structure and
holders
> for being emptied. That is why appliances and household electrical
gadgets
> are designed to use a standard 120 Volts, 60 cycle, alternating
current --
> and even to have a standard size and shape of wall plug. Anyone
who has
> traveled outside the U.S. knows how insufferably inconvenient --
and, for a
> manufacturer, expensive -- it is for each country, each region, to
have a
> different standard of voltage and plug connection. So we propose a
high
> level of modularity be designed into the client MUOL users.
>
> Why "Unmanned"? Because the harsh and dangerous environment of
space makes
> having human employees very expensive. Their lives need to be
protected
> from a variety of hazards and their every need attended to, night
and day.
> And in recent years the sophistication of robotics and of remote
sensing
> and control have blossomed. It is now possible to design a complex
> laboratory or factory entirely robotically and so that it can be
run and
> observed from a distance. Humans "on the floor" are not necessary
and in
> space they are so expensive, that the MUOL system is designed so
that only
> machines -- no humans -- will have to be present for the
laboratory or
> factory to function.
>
> Why "Orbital"? Because that is where the very valuable environment
of micro
> gravity can be found -- never, except for a few minutes in free
fall from a
> high altitude, on Earth. And there are some other conditions
involving
> magnetic fields, vapor pressures, radiation, etc. that are best
found in
> orbit rather than on the Earth's surface.
>
> Finally, why "Laboratory"? Although the MUOL may service
developmental and
> even production needs, its first and primary mission is to support
> laboratory facilities. This is where the technical "exploration"
and