[extropy-chat] SPACE: Deep Impact shows strong spectral lines...

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Alfio Puglisi <puglisi at arcetri.astro.it> wrote:

> On Wed, 6 Jul 2005, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> 
> >A well financed project could
> >send twin missions together: one to Mars, the other to Jupiter via
> >Tempel, if launched 5 years from now.
> 
> Unfortunately, given ordinary space missions design, build and test
> times, launching 5 years from now requires the project to start about
> next week. The only possibility would be to re-use some previous,
> tested design and make some replica, with only minor tweaks.

The Deep Impact mission was designed and built and launched in two
years, and that was a government project with all its paperwork and
bureaucracy.

But you are right, however Bigelow Aerospace has some excellent space
habitat modules http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/news.html and the
design for its "Nautilus Moon Cruiser" seems just the ticket. Bigelows
first hab module will be launching on SpaceX's Falcon 5 booster in
November. Their $50 million "Americas Space Prize" deadline is 2010,
which I'm betting Rutan will have won by 2007 or 2008.

If it turns out that a 2011 rendezvous cannot occur, it appears that
Tempel orbits in a 1:2 resonance with Jupiter, which has an 11.86 year
orbit. With Mars having a nearly 2 year orbit, it appears that using
Tempel as a bus for an orbital transfer can happen about every 12
years. That amount of time should allow for plenty of private space
development. Once Bigelow's orbital hotels are in operation in 2010, a
moon base is apparently their next step a few years later, which is all
the infrastructure needed to launch missions to Mars and Jupiter in
2023.

In the mean-time, a robotic mission following the same route aboard
Tempel in 2011 would be a good proof-of-concept without requiring as
much logistical support or risk to humans.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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