ISS Assembly renderings - Spaceflight Now

[subzero788]

Thanks for the screensaver, it's a beaut!

 

[frodo1008]

The current total manned space budget is based on the support of and finishing of the ISS. That is about half of NASA's total budget (about $7.5 billion). The budget for the maintenance of the ISS alone after 2010 will run about $1.5 billion per year. That is some 20% of the now total manned budget. That really does NOT qualify as a bucket load of cash from congress for NASA!<br /><br />This leaves at the very least $6.0 billion for the CEV effort to go back to the moon. <br /><br />Just to put this $1.5 billion into perspective. We are currently spending some $20 billion per month in the military and civilian efforts in the Middle East. So even if the continued effort to support ISS were to reach $2.0 billion per year. it would still only be some 10% of what the military is spending in one month on an effort that a large number of Americane now believe to be a generally losing effort. And I read in the news where the military states that this is not anywhere near enough! In point of fact we spend far more in the Middle East in one month than NASA's ENTIRE budget for an entire year!!<br /><br />Also in perspective, remember that the MIR went well over a decade beyond its planned demise! <br /><br />Somehow I think that the ISS is going to be in operation till at the very least 2030. Indeed in the end I also believe that the entire structure will bevome the first industrial park in space (which could very well include Bigelow modules also) fully supported by just private space efforts of all the nations currently envolved (and even including other nations not now involved such as CHina, India and Brazil).<br /><br />I also believe (in fact it is almost a certainty) that the efforts of the crews will go from pure scientific research to the development of methodologies for the manufacturing of the space infrastructure to make use of the materials found on the moon and other objects to build a true space faring civilization. Such efforts will in the long run far more