MUOL

Jack Reynolds wrote:

Modular Unmanned Orbital Laboratory

>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.
>
Agreed on general principles alone - I love the idea of private
sector space colonization and, as you will go on to show, this idea
could foster some of the essential industries and infrastructure for
further space development. Also this represents (to me, but maybe I am
just a slow learner) an interesting 'Fifth Way' to use space while
living there. The first way, of course, is the old starry eyed visions
of solid platinum asteroids being sold at current market prices, which
fails when one realizes just how quickly this would destroy the platinum
markets. The second way was to bring down exotic micro- or null- gee
manufactured goods, which would be so terribly useful and expensive as
to make paying to up-port the raw materials to make them worthwhile; the
catch is that none of these materials actually exists yet and
development costs are prohibitive. The third way was (or is) to use
space for its non-material resources, down-porting information (and
possibly enerrgy) to Earth; this is already being done to a small
degree, but doesn't really seem to be moving us towards colonization.
The fourth way is very much along the lines of O'Neills vision -
people living and working in space because that's where their job is;
materials would be cheaply harvested from asteroidal materials and other
space resources, but the materials would be used on orbit for further
colonization (see the first way for interactions with Earth). But the
fifth way, almost spelled out in your post, could be to (second way)
down-port exotic null-gee products to Earth - with the (fourth way)
cheap raw materials provided for by space resources.
Alright, so it seems like an obvious enough concept, but I haven't
really heard it explicitly discussed - and you seemed to overlook the
space resources angle as well. Adding the whole space resource
prospecting / refining / utilization may make the vision unpalatably
complex, but perhaps it would be wise to at least provide module space /
services capable of supporting a prospecting facility - and founding a
sister-venture dedicated to providing such a facility. This could allow
you to entice investors to rent the materials research module spaces,
since they could look forward to cheap (non- up-ported) raw materials.

[Snip]

>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.
>
[Snip]

>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.
>
This diffusion of cost idea is a very appealling one - it lessens
the risks to each individual, and makes many space ventures potentially
affordable.

[Snip]

>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.
>
Heck. I had really liked the idea up to this point; but then I am
gung-ho about colonization - probably not the most practical thing.
However, allow me to put an idea to you - make the facility INITIALLY
unmanned. You will be providing certain basic services to the
industrial clients anyway - these services will probably include clean
energy, variable gravity, clean water, and clean air. Why rule out the
possibility of allowing a client to design a manned module, so long as
they provide their own food and sewage? The added costs of allowing
humans seems like it could be minimal to you, and much of it could be
diffused across your clients - since this IS the primary function of the
platform.

>Why "Orbital"? Because that is where the very valuable environment of micro
>gravity can be found....
>
[Snip]

>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
>development of space must start.
>
Another note about humans; it would seem to be difficult to perform
research without them. Although robots can work 24-hours, they
sometimes work slowly and certainly tend to be oblivious to the
serendipity and subtle quirks of experimentation that might lead to
valuable products. If a client should want (unlikely as it may seem) to
send up a human or two, even temporarily, there may be no reason to
forbid it.
I hope my input is useful to you, even if only as informal feedback.
Thanks,

Joe.