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Newt promises a permanent moonbase by the end of his second term

If we get a moonbase, can it have some of those cargo loaders like the one that Ripley uses in Aliens? If so, I support the cause 110%
 
Mikemcc said:
Read Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson for that, but if we keep worrying about things like that, then we would never get anything done!
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I'm more practical than that. We should build some NERVAs or get an Orion nuclear ship built in orbit.
 
BenBurch said:
If you make the tether long enough, cutting it at the earth's surface will not cause it to fall, and at the far end you will have one gee of force...
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I don't care so much if it falls, but it does render it unusable until it can be repaired.
 
Darat said:
Have to say at least it shows some optimistic and forward looking vision, which is rather different from the "good old days visions" I've been reading from the various candidates.
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He thinks he will win not one, but two Presidential Elections? "Optimistic" is one word for it.



Donal said:
Umm, didn't we already sign a bunch of treaties about that? Like how the moon isn't actually anyone's territory?
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Hey, we planted a flag up there ("I claim this moon in the name of Spain America!"). As long as it's still up there, flapping in the lunar wind, that moon is ours.
 
OCaptain said:
My bet is he's throwing that on the wall to try to get Florida votes. I bet after the Florida primaries are over, we won't hear from it again.
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I think he's loony (ha ha) and this is his way of acknowledging he's toast. If it happens to get votes in Florida, OK, but it's delectable ammo in the country at large. He's trying to save face. He's going to lose, and this way he can pretend it's because he was ahead of his time, too visionary, etc.
 
OCaptain said:
I'm more practical than that. We should build some NERVAs or get an Orion nuclear ship built in orbit.
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Remember that NERVA was never a flight article. We really do have considerable development to do before you could fly one. And remember what it is; An atomic pile cooled ONLY by the propellent, and with insufficient surface area to radiate away its heat. A very difficult beast to manage.

Some nuclear rockets were even more exotic and more dangerous; Gaseous core rockets for example. And really you want those because the ISP is much better for gaseous core.

ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_core_reactor_rocket
 
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OCaptain said:
I'm more practical than that. We should build some NERVAs or get an Orion nuclear ship built in orbit.
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For a moment I read that as NERV and wondered if Newt Gingrich was proposing a Human Instrumentality Project involving clones and giant robots and exceptionally whiny schoolchildren. He would if he thought it would get him voters, I bet. And he'll cry like Shinji when he doesn't get the nomination.
 
RecoveringYuppy said:
However, If someone brought up "lowering crowding" as a motivation for colonizing the Moon it wasn't me.
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Yes, it was Undesired Walrus who suggested the value of the moon to alleviate overcrowding on the Earth. (post #40)

Maybe in the distant future after we have a space elevator, and the cost of getting stuff out of Earth's gravity well is minimal, it would be something we could do. But I would think by then we could probably find a place more hospitable than the Moon.
 
ZirconBlue said:
Hey, we planted a flag up there ("I claim this moon in the name of Spain America!"). As long as it's still up there, flapping in the lunar wind, that moon is ours.
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That was obviously caused by a fan blowing on the sound stage! ;)

The plaque left on the Moon by Apollo 11:

661px-A11.plaque.jpg
 
TragicMonkey said:
How about a moon base built entirely of pork, where people will live while they labor to grow corn on the moon? That would be cost effective and stylish, and earn us the envy of all the other nations and/or moons!!!!!
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Muslim candidates for astronauticity need not apply.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
Yes, it was Undesired Walrus who suggested the value of the moon to alleviate overcrowding on the Earth. (post #40)

Maybe in the distant future after we have a space elevator, and the cost of getting stuff out of Earth's gravity well is minimal, it would be something we could do. But I would think by then we could probably find a place more hospitable than the Moon.
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Only by constructing such a place, such as at the L5 point. And it'd not have fusion fuel that was minable, and it'd not have building materials and water. Those have to be SENT to the L5 point by something ... on... the moooooon.

Next, since Newt's proposal was basically a Zubrin proposal, the details have been out for some time. And since his concept was a prize to the private company that made progress toward the moon base, nobody cares about your idea that a space elevator's the best way. Various people can do whatever they want, and the one with the best idea and implementation wins.
 
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C_Felix said:
How about a new space shuttle first?
Single stage to orbit.

100% of what goes up comes down. (Ya know, apart from fuel and other consumables)
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nope, not the right question. The competitors for the prize decide what technology they use.

What the country gets is a multiple of the prize money in invested capital.....5 to 20x.

The community level economic effect is 4 or 5 times that.

If the prize was 20B, first level positive economic effects are on the level of 400 - 5000b on a taxpayer investment of just 20b, and that is whether they succeed or not.

Thats a no lose deal.
 
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