Jumping the Gun.

> 2) Is there a smaller design of the Space Hab which can
> accommodate say 20 persons? Is there any plan to put up
> such a 'Hab' in the near future?

A CELSS for 20 people might be possible (if somewhat artificial), but
gravity is a bit more iffy. If people are more adaptable to rotation
than we currently think, or if smaller amounts of gravity turn out to be
enough, then smaller habitat radii might be possible. But if the
pessimists are right, radii of around a mile might be the minimum.

OK, let the radius be a mile! Is that frightening? There is no shortage of space in Space! The Egyptians would have never built the pyramids if they had paused to contemplate its eventual size. The idea should be to add brick by brick till the job gets done (a modular design will allow that).

The space programme is unlikely to get public support unless it is about families living in space. Humans are basically social animals. So the space programme could go like this.

1) Build closed cycle habitats in Earth Orbit to prove that humans could survive anywhere in space by recycling everything. Even if 500 billon $ is spent on a hab, the indirect benefit to earth and its environment could be of the order of five trillion $ - we will learn a lot.

2) Get a foothold on Mars and Moon (With families living there)

3) Build O'Neil type habs.

Selvaraj.

(P.S. Since we were on the subject of trade as an impetus to space exploration it is worth reading Drucker's 'The New Realities', where he suggests that we are shifting from trade in goods and services to a 'Knowledge Society'. If Knowledge is what we exchange in Post Modern society, the settlement on Mars will pay for itself!).