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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Max More<br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] NASA's future depends on spaceflight neophytes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42667942/ns/technology_and_science-space/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42667942/ns/technology_and_science-space/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Opinions on the author's slant? Spike? Others?<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>--- Max<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><br clear=all><br><span style='color:#1F497D'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>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 *<b>some</b>* 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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>But much of that doesn’t apply to man-rated vehicles. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Better still, do everything will completely autonomous contructobots.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>