REM@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU (Robert Elton Maas) (02/08/86)
M> Date: Mon, 3 Feb 86 11:11:24 PST M> From: mcgeer%ji@berkeley.edu (Rick McGeer) M> Subject: Re: loncrete M> Can someone please explain to me why we can't go to the moon M> before the year 2000? In 1962, Kennedy committed us to landing on M> the Moon within eight years; we had to invent the technology and M> run three programs (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo), but we did it in M> seven years despite a major tragedy that stopped the program for a M> year. Now. The engineering is done. The Apollo/Saturn design is M> proven technology. Granted the production lines have to be M> re-tooled to do it, I still can't undertand why we can't go to the M> Moon again in five years. Anybody? I agree. If we could get the money, we could go into lunar orbit again within 5 years. (Manned landing is another matter. The LEM was a trick rather than a winning idea for general use. Perhaps a few LEM landings would still be a good idea, but mostly we should send astronauts and enginers etc. into LLO = Low Lunar Orbit or else L4/L5, and send automated equipment to surface of Moon for assembly into remote control mining and tossing-to-orbit. Maybe have automated landings until everything is there, then have one or two manned landings to assemble the equipment and start it running, then return to remote-control operation so you don't have to carry lots of food and other supplies. Later when the automated facility has produced a surplus of raw materials in LLO and orbiting manufacturing facilities have made a surplus of useful products, you could install some more equipment on the surface to grow food and stuff like that, and maybe establish a permanently-manned surface colony.) So, can we get together and propose some general scenerios for bootstrapping to use of lunar materials, and get somebody who is expert on details to critique our ideas?