Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Thu, 12 Oct 89 02:05:37 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 02:04:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #137 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 137 Today's Topics: Economics (was Re: Galileo--- history repeats itself) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 Oct 89 01:31:10 GMT From: rochester!dietz@louie.udel.edu (Paul Dietz) Subject: Economics (was Re: Galileo--- history repeats itself) In article <2372@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> kbennett@jarthur.UUCP (D. Keith Bennett) writes: > But to specifics... In rebuttal to a number of proposed uses of the moon > (mass drivers, solar furnace) I saw an entire article which asked "why why >why" Please use your brain. How do we get a mass driver on the moon? We >build it there. A solar furnace? launch it into orbit, possibly >from the moon. I forget the exact ratio, but it takes a LOT less fuel to >launch from the moon than the Earth - shallower gravity well. Other people will point this out, but: the earth has hydrogen. The moon does not have much, as far as we know. Moreover, the major cost of any launcher is the labor and expertise that goes into building it. Labor costs on the moon are going to be, well, astronomical. > As for asteroids. I liek them - we should study them. Perhaps build / >mine on them. I am curious about the term "swarm" tho - even in the belt, >they aren't that close. But they pale in comparison to the moon. Really? Many near earth asteroids are cheaper (in delta-v) to get to, far cheaper to return mass from, and there is good reason to believe they are more differentiated and contain more volatiles than the moon. I think there's a good chance the moon will be a dead end in the move into space. I think the estimated 300,000 or so NEAs > .1 km in diameter qualify as a swarm. Paul F. Dietz dietz@cs.rochester.edu ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #137 *******************