Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now

Ian Parker <ianparker2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

:On 27 Jan, 14:29, Fred J. McCall <fmcc...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
:> Ian Parker <ianpark...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
:>
:> :
:> :It seems to me that there are two controveries here. Manned verus
:> :unmanned and lunar versus asteroid. I am not at all certain that the
:> :Moon is the right place. If you emphasis is on manned exploration the
:> :Moon has the merit of a short journey time. The Moon still represents
:> :a gravity well, not as big a gravity well as the Earth, but none the
:> :less a gravity well.
:> :
:>
:> And that gravity well is probably an advantage if your aim is any kind
:> of space-based industrial processing.  All our current processes rely
:> on there being gravity.  If you're going to try to do this without
:> gravity you're going to have to reinvent pretty much every existing
:> industrial process.
:>
:
:There are things to be said both ways. Not entirely dependent on
:gravity. Anyway you can always have a spinning drum.
:

And you're back to trying to build something as big as a space colony
if you intend to do any sort of real industrial usage of space
resources.

:
:>
:> The Moon has the advantage of plentiful raw materials and a relatively
:> shallow gravity well, as well as being relatively close to Earth.
:>
:> :
:> :Now if you go to an asteroid, there is no gravity well - or just a
:> :very small one. You can go into LEO with rockets and go the rest of
:> :the way with ion propulsion. If you are talking unmanned an asteroid
:> :is the logical place to have your base and start manufacturing. As
:> :logic seems more and more to be indicating unmanned it would seem that
:> :an asteroid is the logical destination.
:> :
:>
:> What's your long-term plan for what you're going to do with them once
:> you get there?
:>
:
:Well what's the long term plan for the Moon. As I said in my reply to
:Einar there is far more surface area (total) on the asteroids than on
:any planet.
:

It's not a matter of 'surface'. It's a matter of lots of local
resources that you can largely use existing technologies to utilize.
That's not true if you're on asteroids due to the lack of gravity.

Plus there is the whole matter of travel time and shipping distance.
Space resources will largely be used in the vicinity of Earth, since
that's where all the people are.


--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
--George Bernard Shaw
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now
    ... unmanned and lunar versus asteroid. ... Moon has the merit of a short journey time. ... a gravity well, not as big a gravity well as the Earth, but none the ... will far outnumber humans in space for a long time, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now
    ... Manned verus ... :unmanned and lunar versus asteroid. ... :Moon has the merit of a short journey time. ... :a gravity well, not as big a gravity well as the Earth, but none the ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now
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    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Location, Location, Location!
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    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now
    ... unmanned and lunar versus asteroid. ... Moon has the merit of a short journey time. ... a gravity well, not as big a gravity well as the Earth, but none the ... will far outnumber humans in space for a long time, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
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