Accuracy in Media

[--Pete]

Hi,

One thought on lunar machine shops: wouldn't the raw materials have to come from Earth anyway?

Some would, much could be made from available materials.

I'm no rocket scientist, but would there be advantages to sending raw materials into space for additional assembly (i.e., would 25 small shipments add up to lower total fuel requirements than 5 big shipments?)

I don't know about the total fuel requirements, that would be a complex calculation. But the fuel requirements to get the stuff *to* the staging area is not the problem. It's putting together the total expedition package that is the problem. If it is assembled on Earth, then the heavy lift capability (i.e., big rockets) available would limit how big an expedition could be. And the structures would have to be heavier, since they would have to stand up to 1 G while being assembled and many more when being launched. Staging from low Earth orbit (i.e., Space Station) improves the situation some, but working in free fall is very difficult, and the lack of radiation protection is very hazardous. By staging from the Moon, we get a few nice benefits.

Oh, and if we go to the trouble of building a machine shop on the moon, we should definiately build the engineering bay: what's the point of siege tanks without the deploy ability?

:)

--Pete