Good ideas
Hi Gary & Chris
I read, in a recent JBIS, a proposal to mine asteroids for rare metals - it's a good proposal and well worth looking up. Personally I think an ideal synergy would be to launch a proof-of-concept to a metal 'roid and make some dough, but a sister mission to Phobos to mine water and build a fuel station for Earth-Mars traffic. Zubrin's right about the idiocy of using our Moon for Mars refuelling, but using one of Mars' moons is eminently sensible.
Personal thought for design - Bigelow inflatables, ultra-thin PV cells and a plasma-magnet sail to catch the solar-wind.
Adam