Private Commercial Moon Base Being Planned

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arobie

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Robotic Lunar Observatory Studied<br /><br />A private commercial space mission has been blueprinted in the form of a robotic observatory to conduct astronomy and astrophysics from the Moon. <br /><br />The International Lunar Observatory (ILO) initiative envisions a multi-wavelength observatory that would stand about 10-feet (three-meters) in height, with communications and solar power gathering capabilities....<br />
 
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spacester

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Excellent news!<br /><br />Many of us have been preaching that if we achieve CATS, business plans will become feasible. But as we <i>approach</i> CATS, certain of those business plans will be the first to make the cut. Here is our first example.<br /><br />Low cost of operations, high value of product produced. Scientific data is a huge market for space business development.<br /><br />What is the fundamental resource this enterprise would be exploiting?<br /><br />Is it regolith? Is it solar power? Is it any of the things people talk about when talking about "developing lunar resources"?<br /><br />No, no and no.<br /><br />It's what I have been preaching for years:<br /><br /><font color="yellow">Being There</font><br /><br />Now if we can get some lunar bandwidth in place . . . <br /><br />But actually, my favorite question on this annoucement is if the launch is slated for a Falcon V.<br /><br />Did the launch cost advantage of a SpaceX vehicle put this business plan over the top?<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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arobie

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Hear, Hear!!<br /><br />Would the Falcon V be able to get the observatory to the Moon?
 
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radarredux

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This effort has been in the works for several years. Additional information can be found at:<br /><br />http://www.spaceagepub.com/ilo/ilo.home.html<br />(2003) http://www.spacedev.com/newsite/templates/subpage_article.php?pid=431<br />(2004) http://www.spacedev.com/newsite/templates/subpage_article.php?pid=478<br /><br />Other small groups (e.g., TransOrbital) have been trying to get a number of small lunar efforts off the ground including HDTV imaging of the moon (page, page, page).<br /><br />I was disappointed when NASA chose to build its own orbiter (LRO) instead of offering a bounty on returned data. Paying for data could have been a real shot in the arm for these small entrepreneurial efforts trying to secure funding.
 
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lunatic133

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Very very exciting! Now my next question is when does private industry get humans back on the moon <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />
 
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crossovermaniac

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Not until someone is willing to fork over the billions of dollars for a solar panel plant on the moon.
 
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arobie

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Thanks Radar for the info. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />
 
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arobie

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<font color="yellow">Now my next question is when does private industry get humans back on the moon <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /></font><br /><br />Good question, I hope soon(ish). <br /><br />Good to see you lunatic. Glad you had a little bit of extra time to stop by for a few posts. <br /><br />
 
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arobie

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<font color="yellow">Not until someone is willing to fork over the billions of dollars for a solar panel plant on the moon.</font><br /><br />I don't know...I don't think it will be <i>billions</i> of dollars
 
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nexium

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Can we build a bare bones solar panel plant on Earth for less than a $billion? Seoarate and purify the silicon 2 cut it into wafers 3 deposit the solar cell on the disk 4 mount the solar cells so they face the Sun (Stearable?) 5 connect the pannels to an inverter. 6 Do all this with robotics instead of humans? Neil
 
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dan_casale

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I sent them an email to ask what I could do to help. I'll let you know what they say.
 
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