Jumping the Gun.

> From: sraj [mailto:sraj@...]
> With all the delta V's we are talking about, it is clear that
> supplying any outpost from Earth is going to be a very
> difficult task.

DeltaV is not the problem, it's cost. So it's really a case of making the coutposts as self-sufficient as possible and/or drastically reducing launch costs.

> When zero G is known to be detrimental why
> deliberately persist with it?

Zero-g is studied because it's effects are similar to certian bone diseases, and studying one may lead to cures for the other. NASA therefore designs its shuttles and stations to be zero-G enviroments. In earth orbit, thisd makes sense. On a multi-month trip to mars it's bloody stupid, but NASA lacks the experience to build anything else. And to the best of my knowledge, until recently they were restricted to pure-research, and literally were not legally permitted to put money into any colonisation effort.

ANTIcarrot.