Re:NASA official warns private sector: We’re moving on from ...
by nickff on Monday December 07, 2015 @04:06PM
(#10692697)
The space station can't hold itself together on the moon, it is not built for 1/6g; you might be able to position it in lunar orbit, but that would be quite expensive; higher orbits would preserve the station just as well at much lower cost, but the station would be an unsafe derelict in a few years.
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Re:NASA official warns private sector: We’re moving on from ...
by vanattab on Monday December 07, 2015 @07:23PM
(#10693915)
Would it really be all that expensive though. We are going to have to send tons of mass out there eventually. Is there anything fundamentally different about a lunar orbit that would make such a base not as useful. I understand it was not designed to experience large acceleration forces but could we not use this as an opportunity to test ion drives and/or other low impulse drive mechanism? Slowly inch it towards a linear orbit? Then send astronauts to meet it in orbit with a next gen reusable lunar lander? On a SpaceX heavy and or SLS?