Hi Ken –

> stable platform, Crater counting and dating <
EPG-"Absolutely right."--
>Darn tootin'<

I was about to go on again about the financial constraints, and I will in a minute, but I remember what happened with the shuttle – the failure to adopt reusable pressure fed liquid boosters led to the mess we have today…

Okay.

Mazanek’s architecture has LH/LOX fuel modules, and these would allow your EML architecture down the road. But the trick here is not too mention that at first, but instead just emphasize the Moon based impactor detection system, I thought the way to go with be with the “base” being the fuel transfer station in orbit around the Moon, with the fuel production added on (“snuck in”) later.

The real problem here is the long term storage of cryogenics.

>Insisting solely on a Moon NEO detector is no different from insisting solely on a trip to Mars in that regard.<

Moon NEO detection is different, as it is essential: it quite literally is life and death, the extinction of mankind, and it is known that this is the best way to do it. That’s we can sell it, to anyone, anywhere.

>Am I willing to spend $60.0Mn (10%) to save a $600.0Mn investment?<

Of course, but the problem is to get the cost to $60Mn.

Realistically, the fiber optic systems are replacing geo com sats, except for small country use, where 3 to 4 transponder sats are very cost effective. You have direct radio and direct tv, but the wireless with ground based antenna towers has beaten leo constellations, except for use in extremely isolated areas. EO is a mess, as the data is non-standard, because if it were standard everyone would use it to program cruise missiles. So the number of sats to write system costs off against is pretty small.

Then you have the safety problems.

> cleaning out the garbage. <

EPG--"Problem here is that that very same space junk makes this too dangerous for human crews - particularly unexpended hypergolics"--

>Exactly the reason you don't want to just send a robot out there; you risk losing both your expensive robot and the useful satellite. People at least are capable of analyzing the situation and making educated guesses. It may be as simple as unbolting the hypergolic fuel tanks and ditching them before retrieving the satellite. A waste of good fuel tanks though.<

I see no problem with doing a lot of this tele-operated, because the communication times are short back and forth. Robots are way cheaper than people. Ever tried to build a person?

EPG--"The ion/plasma engines being adopted for communication satellites are extending their lifetimes to the point at which their electronics become obsolete"--

>Xips is turning out to be a little more problematic than first thought, and can you ensure 100% reliability of all components? (And if you throw ISO 9001 or 6 Sigma at me I'll smack you upside the head with 'em. LOL)<

There really don’t seem to be any constraints, and the components do work, and work fairly simply.

KEN/EPG: Al/LOX may be a contender..."--

>Right and you use the oxygen for life support so you don't have to lug it from Earth. Industry is going to need to be a big early investor. A NEO scope doesn't give them a reason to do so. Getting the good stuff out of the regolith does.<

Right now, space is still too risky and payback too long for normal commercial use without government involvement one way or another, and there’s no pretending any different - you just get yourself into trouble that way

Here’s a better idea. Force NASA to auction one day exclusive rights to either NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN for the MER 1 and MER 2 imagery.

Show me the market - and I can show you the money.

>A fixed base of operations helps in the logistics so you don't have your limited crew scattered to the four corners of the Moon, complicating logistics and communications.<

Actually, the crew will need to work at all four corners of the Moon – that’s why I choose rolling facilities and an orbiting base. Still, if you can get the fixed base, near the water…

>We will be mining the Moon for Oxygen and Hydrogen. This will be the de facto fuel for cislunar operations. I think Al/LOX is a very strong contender, but will end up as the "diesel" of cislunar space. I'd love to have a piece of that action, though.<

I think the "diesel" may be solar thermal, perhaps with peroxide as the propellant.

EPG--"While the "Mars Enthusiasts" are fixated on Mars and buy a lot of magazines and create a lot of noise, the general public does not give a s**t about sending their money to Washington to pay for sending men to Mars"--

>We're going there eventually, EPG, we might as well start getting ready for it. Small investments now can have large payoffs later. I'm hoping that the powers that be in the Mars community know this, and that they're thinking enough to adapt their strategy as the situation develops. They could end up with a Mars mission done right, with myriad capabilities, versus a hardscrabble, neglected scientific outpost.<

Way right, but you’re hoping for too much from the "Mars community". These guys simply do not think. They do not read. They do not understand. It is either Bob’s way or the highway.

My estimate is that Mars in going to be the next generation’s battle. Sadly, right now, I don’t know if much more than an Antarctic style research facility will ever be built there.

“-doing secret hush-hush non-projects for an unidentified government office that doesn't exist in the budget,”

well put
ep