Oh yeah -
No one likes ISS, except for the Representatives and Senators, who seem to think its a good idea.
Gary, you've got a good opportunity to attack ISS, and you're using it. You're not telling people that the disk drives on the flight computers are currently on the fritz; non-mechanical replacement units are on the way, and then the amount of crew time available for science is going to go up.
You put your 747 on more or less permanent auto-pilot, and perform your science. In other words you atuomate your ordianry in-flight systems to the extent possible, and use the crew time to perform science.
You have dockings every so often, you extend the dock times, and use the man hours for science. That holds science until construction is complete and the Enterprise module gets up and the crew expands.
Gary, you'd be better off spending your time figuring out how to extend the science on ISS, instead of complaining about how little science there is. If ISS goes down, the manned program will go down: the money will not be spent on manned Mars flight.
Here's the plan: finish ISS, back to the Moon, this time to stay, then on, on to Mars.
Get with it.
EP
Space/Science » in reply to Bungled analogy
Bungled thinking