[ExI] NASA's future depends on spaceflight neophytes

[spike]

From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Max More
Subject: [ExI] NASA's future depends on spaceflight neophytes

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42667942/ns/technology_and_science-space/

 

Opinions on the author's slant? Spike? Others?

 

--- Max



Max, do let me preface my comments here by saying I have been a Jay Barbree
follower for a long time, since my childhood.  He goes back that far. 

 

I think Jay has it right here, with a few exceptions, which I will note.
Earlier today we saw Keith and Kelly commenting on lunar manufacturing.  We
are still lacking *some* of the necessary control technology to do something
like that, but in the long run, I see most of the interesting space
infrastructure construction needing advanced robotics.  Reasoning: if we
make launchers man-rated, we need to give away too much payload to increased
safety margins.  

 

We have man-rated vehicles, but they are inherently expensive.  If we are
willing to go with non-man-rated launchers, I can imagine something like a
four-stage all-solid rocket, and yes I know solids are dirty and low tech
and we space guys are supposed to hate them, but do read on.

 

We can piggy-back off of the Trident nuke delivery system, so the
manufacturing process is already in place (Morton Thiokol), we can stack two
Trident first stages and use a beefed-up first to second interstage without
a lot of redesign, plus the tooling to make these already exists, the
tooling and facilities to make the huge aluminum billets is already in
place, everything needed to carve the billet into an interstage exists in
Sunnyvale California in building 181, grinding away 24/7, software already
written to do all that, we already have all the hoisting and logistics
infrastructure for those Trident first stages and all the other smaller
stages in Utah, we have launch facilities at Vandenberg for high latitude
orbits and at Cape Canaveral for low latitude, we have the most of the
control algorithms to keep such a thing flying pointy end first, we have all
this stuff already and plenty of guys who will work their asses off, eagerly
at reasonable cost to make it all happen.

 

But much of that doesn't apply to man-rated vehicles.  

 

So my notion is this: rig up a four stage all-solid with something like a
Mercury capsule on top if we feel we really must carry an ape, with one of
those emergency egress towers on top, and recognize that this venture is
risky as hell, probably not as risky as climbing Mount Everest which doesn't
accomplish a damn thing, good luck and evolution speed, let's light this
candle.

 

Better still, do everything will completely autonomous contructobots.

 

spike

 

 

 

.

 

 

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