8 thoughts on “Cislunar 1000”

  1. I’m just thrilled that more attention is being turned to cislunar space, where all of the action really is, and will be for the near-future. I’m also kind of thrilled that ULA’s cislunar map so resembles the one I did for my cislunar econosphere article over at The Space Review:
    http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2027/1
    http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2033/1

    As much as I’ve despised the Clintons over the decades, Bill did get one thing right – it’s the economy, stupid..

        1. #ProTip Ken. Quotes from the infamous liar James Carville have nothing to do with the economy, or what Bill Clinton did for it. The only thing he did for the economy was to help usher in a Republican Congress in 1994.

          1. And yet, fundamentally, it is the economy that is important. Such is true here in the U.S., around the world, and yes, even in space. Especially cislunar space.

  2. I don’t think we can get Space electrical power to Earth surface in less than 50 years. And to do it in 50 years requires things done by NASA which hasn’t been started yet.
    We need a depot which has demonstrated refueling operations.
    Depots are going to be like re-using a first stage rocket by returning to a launch pad- landing one first stage rocket to the pad is like launching a depot in space- both are the beginning of a process which will require years to evolve.
    I think NASA needs to launch a depot to LEO, then start program of lunar exploration using robots which use the depot. Plus all other NASA robotic missions being designed to use the depot for their exploration missions.
    After lunar robotic missions have found some locations which may be sites which could be minable, crew should be send for addition exploration of these sites and lunar sample returned to Earth.
    And if NASA starts going in this direction, NASA could finished the lunar program before 2025, and finishing the lunar exploration, NASA starts Mars manned Mars mission- having mars base and crew landing by say 2030. And continue it’s focus on Mars exploration for next couple decades.
    Meanwhile lunar commercial lunar water begins, and it’s likely one of spots NASA had found may be used. It’s possible these sites would have a usable landing site and landing communication infrastructure which usable which were developed during NASA lunar exploration program- though it’s possible other commercial lunar exploration is done and new sites are found and used, instead.
    Other things which may be occurring prior to 2030, could other countries space agencies doing various things on the Moon- such as research bases or governmental attempts at mining lunar water.
    It also seems likely that by 2030, there will be suborbital business of taking people into space and beginnings of short sub-orbital hops [say 1000 km distances].
    And re-using the first stage of a rocket may be the standard way of getting anything in orbit and refueling satellites for LEO and beyond maybe being done- or satellite business could be quite different than today’s satellite business.

    Once there is commercial lunar water mining, one will get other types of lunar mining and one should have explosion of amount of lunar sample returns and exploration of the Moon. But it seems it will take a decade or two to lower the cost of lunar water and lunar rocket fuel, which allow such things as Mars settlements and solar energy harvested from Space for use on Earth surface, to be begun.

      1. Ok, but to get to point of getting SPS, it has to go faster than this.
        So I would say NASA should have operational depot in LEO within 3 year and a launch of depot within 1-2 years. And NASA should not wait for private sector, but rather get ahead of private sector, trail blaze, and the private can follow this with various improvement and lowering the cost of operations.

Comments are closed.