Set your goals for Space Exploration

[brettc4]

With government backed agencies, you have 1 or 2 terms with the same administration before there are major changes. We now have a number of very wealthy individuals attempting to enter the field of space exploration and it is more than likely private and public organisations will be the ones pushing space exploration.

So if you we able to dictate goals for Space Exploration (don't worry about money) what would be your goals be? Pick your top 2 or 3 short term (less than 10 years), medium term (less than 25 years), long term (25 years plus).

Short Term:
1. Design and begin constructions of a Permanent settlement on Mars
2. Design and begin construction of a permanent space station
3. Retrieve an asteroid an place in Earth orbit for detailed study and research into mining techniques

Medium Term
4. Enlarge Space station to include paying tourists and researchers
5. Complete Mars Settlement and begin detailed exploration and anaylsis, to determine if Terraforming is possible.
6. Begin asteroid mining.

Long Term
7. Visit each planet and moon, conducting detailed analysis
8. Terraform Mars is deemed possible from Goal 5

 

[mark_d_s]

Short Term:
Tie-Fighter

Mid Term:
Star Destroyer :x

Long Term:
Death Star :twisted:

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Short term; Begin the colonization of Mars.

Mid term; solidify the colonization of Mars.

Long term; Colonize the rest of the Solar System.

 

[SpacexULA]

Short Term:
1. Design and begin constructions of a Permanent settlement on Mars
2. Design and begin construction of a permanent space station
3. Retrieve an asteroid an place in Earth orbit for detailed study and research into mining techniques

Medium Term
4. Enlarge Space station to include paying tourists and researchers
5. Complete Mars Settlement and begin detailed exploration and anaylsis, to determine if Terraforming is possible.
6. Begin asteroid mining.

Long Term
7. Visit each planet and moon, conducting detailed analysis
8. Terraform Mars is deemed possible from Goal 5

I like your list hear is mine
Short Term:
1.Interject market forces into space launch as much as possible.
2.Via prizes, and bounties stimulate the market for space 1sts, and sample returns.
3.Form IAEA for space launch, make space launch a commercial affair amongst all industrial nations.

Medium Term
1.Formation of a International Space Organization for the coordination, and regulation of space activities
2.Set goal to have communication, and observations satellites around every major solar body.
3. Fuel Depots in Leo, and at the Lagrange points of Earth and Mars

Long Term
1. Moon, NEOs, and Martian orbit fully integrated into Earth economy
2. Fully functioning solar market economy. I want every rock in the solar system to have a price on its head.
3. Fully independent space stations, and self sufficient colonies on Moon and Mars.

 

[Gravity_Ray]

short term:
Robotic exploration of every major moon and planet and all other bodies in the solar system. Map and catagorize various materials in our solar system.

Medium term:
develop a space elevator. Or, develop cheaper ways to get to space.
develop either solar sails, laser propulsion, or nuclear propulsion for traveling around the solar system once outside of our gravity well.

Long term:
colonize Mars. You can start with a moon base, but its not necessary.

 

[Shpaget]

Short term:
1. Poking and prodding all the asteroids in vicinity, searching for raw materials.

Medium term:
1. Reducing the cost of kg to LEO transportation.
2. Dragging the above mentioned asteroids closer to Earth, pushing them in orbit around it.
3. Building refineries and processing facilities in orbit.

Long term:
1. Expanding refineries and processing facilities in orbit.
2. Building space stations and ships from the asteroid materials.
3. Engage!

 

[EarthlingX]

I like your list hear is mine
Short Term:
1.Interject market forces into space launch as much as possible.
2.Via prizes, and bounties stimulate the market for space 1sts, and sample returns.
3.Form IAEA for space launch, make space launch a commercial affair amongst all industrial nations.

Medium Term
1.Formation of a International Space Organization for the coordination, and regulation of space activities
2.Set goal to have communication, and observations satellites around every major solar body.
3. Fuel Depots in Leo, and at the Lagrange points of Earth and Mars


Long Term
1. Moon, NEOs, and Martian orbit fully integrated into Earth economy
2. Fully functioning solar market economy. I want every rock in the solar system to have a price on its head.
3. Fully independent space stations, and self sufficient colonies on Moon and Mars.

This one is closest to me, so I will just add:
Short Term:
4. Mass produce robotic explorers to check every near-by rock;

Medium Term
4. Outposts grown out of depots;
5. Moon base, start scientific, touristic, industrial, ... activities;
6. Phobos, Vesta, Ceres, .. outposts;
7. Towing some asteroid in orbit around Ls or Moon, not Earth, too crowded.
8. ISRU based space industry, probably start with fuel, water;
9. Space elevators for smaller celestial bodies.

Long Term
4. Mars base;
5. Space elevators for medium celestial bodies;

6. Engage!

 

[kelvinzero]

hmmm...

short term
1. Begin building your moon or mars base immediately, in simulated conditions right here on earth. Concentrate on ISRU and fully recycling environments. This should not come out of the space budget, but be seen as research into how to live here on earth, as natural resources run out and recycling becomes more important.
2. More robotic missions, and heavier. Find out more about the composition of various targets and become confident at landing on them. Build up a robotic colony on the moon.
3. Develop a healthy launch industry, perhaps by assuring this continual flow of robotic missions.

mid term
It really depends where the short term takes us, but it could include:
1. A permanent manned moon base (much infrastructure already set up robotically)
2. An outpost on Phobos, teleoperating significant resources already on mars.
3. perhaps a manned mission to mars, if we are ready to begin a permanent outpost there.

long term
1. Colonize every icy body in the solar system. That is most of the objects on this list smaller than earth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_So ... ts_by_size

 

[tampaDreamer]

Well you said don't worry about cost.. I know I'm a dreamer but here's my thoughts:

Short Term
1. Maximize use of commercial launch services and discontinue government rocket development. Discontinue gov't rocket production as soon as commercial services show the ability to reach lunar orbit. Sell the rights to any remaining relevant gov't rocket technology at auction.
2. Mass produce mineral-finding robots for use inside jovian orbit.
3. Heavily fund nanotube research including gov't subsidies and prizes.

Mid Term
1. Construct space elevator or other cheap launch solution on earth as soon as nanotube materials reach feasability. Approach like a new apollo in the effort level and publicity. Mirror railroads for commercial application. Develop space station at geostationary orbit intersection with space elevator.
2. Construct first off-planet mining operation. License the technology from a private corporation where available, else develop it via government funding and then sell the rights to the technology at auction.
3. Construct permanent base on another body's surface, depending on convenience & proximity mining operations.

Long Term
1. Work toward permanent base's ability to be self-sufficient without earth assistance, including human reproduction and political systems
2. Heavily fund interstellar propulsion research, using the lessons learned from the nanotube research efforts and considering the target criteria calculated as noted below. Determine nearest rocky planet around another star which could be colonized in a similar manner to our permanent intra-solar system colony. Figure a travel time of 2/3 of a generation's work-life (at present time that'd be 22-65, so ~30 years). This would allow those that left on the mission to arrive at the destination and oversee the colony construction before their death/retirement.
3. Mass produce and launch interstellar explorer robots, to determine mining opportunities en route to an interstellar destination or possible interstellar colonization.

 

[MasterSith]

mark_d_s - lmao, I love it!!!
___________________________________

I'll use my own time scales, because I truly think this is all possible if the government and private industry of the world actually worked together to get it done.

Short Term: (<5 yrs)

1. Establish basic Lunar infrastructure (fuel depots, initial landings, etc).
2. Establish and design next gen light weight, task specific shuttles about the size of Learjet 85's. Crew shuttle, cargo only shuttle, fuel tanker shuttle. (Public and private companies can design their own shuttles that fit the Launch facility rail requirements).
3. Establish and design Maglev Launch Rail Facility.
4. Invest heavily in Gravity Manipulation Devices and R&D until the ultimate propulsion system is developed.

Mid Term: (5 to 10 yrs)

1. All parties build the next gen shuttles.
2. Build Maglev Launch Rail Facility.
3. Use above systems to launch crew and cargo on a weekly basis to LEO and the Moon, with so many flights doing so much work it's unprecedented.
4. Invest heavily in Gravity Manipulation Devices and R&D until the ultimate propulsion system is developed.

Long Term: (10 to 20 yrs)

1. Use the robust infrastructure created by the short and long term gains to go where ever we want, when ever we want, to do what ever we want.
2. Invest heavily in Gravity Manipulation Devices and R&D until the ultimate propulsion system is developed.


The gravity research is paramount on so many levels. The moment we beat gravity is the moment cost becomes completely irrelevant and our expansion into space become exponential in scale.


Douglas Mallette
http://thespaceadvocate.blogspot.com/
Author: Turning Point (available Oct 09)

 

[Sour]

Short Term: Find Strange New Worlds

Mid Term: Seek out new life and new civilizations

Long Term: Conquer them

 

[Geoduck2]

I tend to think rather concretely so while I find the Star Trek references amusing, I'm going to be down to earth, pardon the pun in my suggestions

Short term
Update launch vehicle availability. Within 10 years I want to see private manned and unmanned orbital vehicles. We have the technology now so it's just a matter of doing it. Use enticements, prizes, contracts, etc. to push private industry to take over the new frontier.

Medium term
Get people permanently off of the earth. Within 25 years I want to see a population that is born, lives, and dies in self sufficient stations/colonies on the moon, in permanent space stations, maybe even Mars. Not necessarily a big population yet, but some. This will require a big change in propulsion systems, environmental controls, energy. Hard but doable. We are still travelling in sailing ships and someone needs to develop the steam engine.

Long term
Full colonization of the Solar System. Within 100 years I want to see an exodus. The vast majority of people off of the Earth living on every rock we can colonize in the solar system. To carry the analogy from above we need to go from the steam engine to the jet. Completely new ways of travelling at what may seem today to be impossibly high speeds and comfort. Earth to the Moon in 30 minutes, to Mars in 24-48 hours. I want to offload all but a few hundred million people from the Earth so it can begin to heal. Live in space and make the Earth a park for vacations.

The last step would set us up for realistic travel to nearby stars.

EDIT: Reading back over this I realized that this would involve a change in our thinking. We need to become less Earth-centric. We need to think of the Earth as just one planet among many. Not towing asteroids to HEO for mining. Make use of them where they are. Not extracting minerals from the moon and shipping them home. Use them where they are to live and establish their own economies.Yes there would be trade, but not one way -> earth. First we'd move to a Solar System-centric model and then someday down the road intersteller.

 

[phoenixz]

Short term:
(Next 25 years)
Create international (and for god, please, ETHICAL) space law, space is for everybody, no country can claim one object / moon / planet / etc..
Then stimulate private space exploration
Have a "first stage" refuelling station, making lighter and cheaper launch vehicles possible
Establish permanent space station in geo-sync orbit (Could also act as refuelling station)
Create maglev
Establish first permanent moon colony
First foot on Mars

Mid term:
(Next 50 years)
Extend colonies and stations
Establish colony on Mars
Start mining asteroid belt

Long term:
(Next 75 years)
Terra-form Mars
Direct exploration of the rest of the solar system

I'd like to live to see after 100 years....
First steps in interstellar travel.

though that would be doubtful..



EDIT : About the ethical stuff.. something tells me we need to drop the concept of money if we don't want to deal with mega co-operations (only they could afford it) wanting to take some short cuts..

 

[phoenixz]

Short Term: Find Strange New Worlds

Mid Term: Seek out new life and new civilizations

Long Term: Conquer them

You forgot the last step, getting stepped on like if we were ants if we'd try

 

[Saidziri]

One of the many things I would like to see happen

Immediate:
International cooperation and collaboration for common deep space exploration.

Short Term:
1. Europa' (and other moons around the giants), searching for life in the solar system.
Send probes (subs) to investigate the subsurface oceans, in search for possible life forms (that might be other than micro organisms)

2. Martian atmosphere, in preparation of human exploration of Mars:
Send blimps carrying multiple probes. The use of Blimps will help drop the probes over large distances from each other. It will also help make a final call regarding the landing sites. The blimps would be flown over /deep into the Martian canyon.

Mid Term:
3. Use the Martian moons as an outpost to further study Mars. A base would be dug into the moons to shield astronauts from radiations.

Long Term:
4. In a preparation of a full fledge exploration of the solar system, adjust a couple of asteroids as emergency transporters across the solar system by putting them in specially designed trajectory. The interior of the asteroids could be used to hold supplies and provide shelter against radiation for long periods.

5. Invest in R&D to produce the first interstellar probe to the nearest star system. The probe would be sent in the shape of nano devices that would self-assemble once arrived at destination.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well, if money is no object, then this belongs in Science Fiction, so...

Short Term:
Colonize the Moon Next year
Colonize Mars in 2011
Colonize the rest of the bodies in the Solar Syetem with ice before the 2012 end of the earth.

Medium term:

Colonize the dozens of inhabitable planets within 50 LY by 2020
Colonize the hundreds of inhabable planets within 100 LY by 2025
Colonize the thousands of inhabitable planets in the galaxy by 2050

Long term
Colonize the first planet in another galaxy by 2052, my 100th birthday

Rinse and repeat...

If you throw money out of the equation, the concept has no meaning, IMHO

 

[mikecrane]

10 years:
1.) scram Jets to LEO and for rapid global transportation.
2.) several LEO outposts
3.) LEO transportation shuttles
4.) swarms of robotic probes to NEO's including the earths moon

20 years:
1.) LEO transportation shuttles upgraded for NEO transport including the earths moon.
2.) NEO and lunar outposts
3.) launch tracks on the earths moon for lunar return to LEO, Earth, earth gravity assist, and orbital lunar transport.
4.) swarms of robotic probes to objects in the inner solar system including the asteroid belt.

30 years:
1.) Self sufficient outposts on the lunar surface.
2.) NEO shuttles upgraded for travel beyond earth orbit.
3.) Begin setting up outposts beyond earth orbit.
4.) Begin swarming the outer solar system with probes.

 

[Dblspace]

In the interest of brevity:

Short term: Return to the moon.

Medium term: Capture an Earth-crossing asteroid.

Long term: Develop the concept of the space elevator.

Since money is no object I ignored the elephant in the room - privatizing space - but it will have to be addressed.

David

 

[CosmicTrader]

Short-term:
1) Develop a lower-cost delivery system to LEO. It needs to reduce the cost per kg by at least a factor of ten and be able to be used at least weekly.
2) Continue robotic exploration of the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and other planets and bodies within the Solar System.
3) Establish additional LEO habitat using such things as Bigelow modules and shuttle ETs and use them for extremely long-duration space research.

Medium-term:
1) Establish long-term bases on the Moon and at least one Lagrange point
2) Exploratory mission(s) to near-Earth asteroids, particularly Apophis
3) Research alternate deep-space propulsion systems along the lines of solar sails, ion propulsion, etc.

Long-term (I'm not as married to these):
1) Space elevator(s), when the technology exists
2) Manned interplanetary exploration - Mars bases
3) Mining - near-Earth asteroids, possibly some asteroids in the Belt

 

[dgilsdorf]

Lots of ideas, here, some serious, some cute. A couple of smaller elephants in the room, hard to notice behind the funding pachyderm: Space junk in LEO, and impact-induced mass extinctions. (We face other threats as a species, but they are not to be solved through efforts in space.)

Near Term:
1 Clean up LEO, so we can launch safely, expect a space elevator to escape collisions, etc.
2 Deploy a NERVA-based ship to Earth orbit on standby to intercept possible impactors . . . and park them in Earth orbit.
3 Develop closed-loop life support, cosmic ray shielding and hibernation (there are promising clues for this in low temperatures, diving reflex and sulfur dioxide). Continue development of better propulsion, including air-breathing first-stages (like SCramjet), VASIMR, and others.

Mid Term:
1 Expand human presence in orbit with inflatable habitats and modular add-ons; assemble long-range ships this way.
2 Develop Luna, Mars, captured NEOs, etc. (Venus, Mercury, and others could work, if we are determined enough.)
3 Launch interstellar probes toward all nearby stars, using ever trick we can to reach substantial fractions of lightspeed.

Long Term:
1 Complete space elevators, build rotating space stations (like Gerard K.O'Neill's ideas), make spaceflight commonplace.
2 Develop asteroids of the main belt, develop Jupiter environs
3 Analyze data from interstellar flybys, adjust courses of probes to slingshot toward other stars.

 

[daztek]

I think we should aim for developing factory habitats in Earth orbit and on the moon, using resources from the moon, the asteroid belt and other planets' moons. We should avoid wasting precious energy and resources by traversing gravity wells unnecessarily. We should be aiming at transferring the space industry to space.

I'm opposed to expeditions to the surface of Mars. I think it is a shocking waste of resources to embark on settling a place that is less hospitable than Antarctica and - compared to the Moon or Earth orbit - ridiculously wasteful of energy due to the need to negotiate a gravity well with every journey.

And funnily enough, no one lives on Antarctica except scientists, and it's a snap to get to Antarctica compared to Mars. Drop some bacteria and lichens on Mars from orbit and leave it at that.

Conversely, a few years ago a high metal content asteroid costed at $23 trillion was found in the asteroid belt. I bet that when private enterprise gets to space, they will have no interest whatsoever in Mars. They will want the $23 trillion asteroid. And somewhere to process it. Which won't be the surface of Mars.

The critical goal is being able to live sustainably and productively in space, away from planetary surfaces. Once we can do that, we can go anywhere.

 

[neutrino78x]

Well, the privatization of space will occur regardless of government action, unless they specifically prevent it.

So if you're the President, the question is what you do with the government space program.

I think you drop this idea of baby steps as being prerequisite to going further.

You say we are going to Mars in 10 years. The way you do it is with a NASA based and controlled heavy lift booster, and modular capsules, as Robert Zubrin mentioned in Mars Direct.

The modular capsules enable you to deliver one in LEO and attach a different propulsion module if you want to send it to the Moon or a NEO instead.

I think if the government places bases on the moon, they should be scientific bases at the poles, designed to provide support for robotic telescopes on the dark side of the moon. The robotic scopes themselves can and should be assembled using automation.

--Brian

 

[bushwhacker]

after reading thru this thread i see a lot of good ideas. most are unreasonable.. the tech required. how you gonna build a moon base under ground if you dont have a digger capable of digging on the moon, same for mars. craters are great but you have to be able to seal the top how ya gonna do that?

our next step will be orbital either leo or lunar orbit rotating stations to provide some gravity. jmho and thanks yall

 

[tchad]

The Augustine Commission has already proposed a worthy goal: “to chart a path for human expansion into the solar system.” To achieve this goal, we must focus on building a human presence in space that is sustainable, both economically and physically. Economic sustainability is likely to drive the destination. Too many people are proposing unsustainable stunts such as settlements on Mars or a permanent space station. Two options to economic sustainability, both building new industries that would creat jobs and wealth here on Earth as well as helping to solve critical energy, climate change and resource limitation problems:

(1) Public-private partnership between NASA/US Bureau of Mines and international consortium of mining industries to develop space-based mining industry beginning by exploration and technology verification on near Earth asteroids (NEAs), extending to Phobos and Deimos and eventually the asteroid belt. PRECONDITION: change the UN Space Treaty to allow corporations to own and exploit resources in space (taking a lesson from the exploration of the North America 500 years ago; the Kings of Portugal, Spain, France and England gave ownership rights to early explorers so that they could attract private investors to underwrite the huge costs of expeditions and colonization attempts).

(2) Public-private partnership betwen NASA/DoE and energy industries to develop space-based solar power plants.

Forget the moon and Mars unless you can find a value proposition there that would interest private investors. Why go to all the trouble and expense to lift ourselves out of our own deep gravity well only to fall back into another, to a world that is bleak, barren and devoid of any conceivable economic benefit. We'll go there, but only once a permanent presence in space has been established that is actually sustainable. Our descendants may be living in NEAs or Lagrange point solar construction habitats long before they ever set foot on Mars. Why planets? Why the moon? Our species evolved on a planetary surface so we have a natural bias to assume this is where our descendents will want to live. Science fiction fantasies reinforce this bias. Let's move beyond SF and into political and economic reality.

 

[brettc4]

Thank you all for your responses, they have been both enlightening and at times humourus.

I now have a follow-up question.

I recently read a book which has prompted me into doing a bit more with my life. As a 30-something married with 2 kids, state government worker in South Australia, I an unsure how/what I can do to make any of my hopes and dreams for Space Exploration possible.

What are you doing?, or have you done in the past to facilitate Space Exploration?

What paths can you suggest?

Cheers,
Brett