By: PinzaTodd
Last edited: April 4, 2003
 
 

1. Need a vehicle to ferry materials to orbit. It might be advantageous if it could brake harder to lower its reentry speed, even though that means an escalated fuel cost, as such a lower reentry speed ought to be easier on the spaceframe, thereby lowering maintenance costs as well as MTBF.

2. Need a low-orbit space station or transfer station, a high-orbit space station or transfer station, and a "truck" to ferry materials between them. This "truck" would not need to be aerodynamic, as it would operate entirely in space.

3. Need lunar (and other extraplanetary) housing. I propose bringing big inflatable bags, rounded rectangles in shape, with an airlock at one or both ends. Dig a trench 20' deep into the lunar soil, lay down one of these bag houses into the trench, inflate, cover with a layer of lunar soil that must be converted into a concrete-like substance, then cover the rest with the lunar soil again. Should be proof against solar and cosmic radiation. Lay down a row of these "bag houses" next to each other and connect them with a perpendicular corridor. Common areas would also be needed.

4. Need an air and water recycling capacity. A variant of this one might do.
 
 

Oppotunities to leverage this proposed system include:
 

? Satellite repair using the "truck"