Joe Carroll of Tethers Applications, Inc. delivered a presentation on a proposal for a LEO partial gravity test facility at the StarShip Congress which took place in San Diego September 13 – 15. An interesting fact is that of all the surfaces of bodies in the solar system where humans may want to build settlements, all of them have gravity similar to the Moon and Mars. Thus gravity in the solar system is “quantized” to just these two levels simplifying the testing regime. Determining the prescription needed for human health in partial gravity is a critical path research topic needed for space settlement.
The “First Base” on the Moon
Bigelow Aerospace already has it designed
A practical space elevator
Called Spaceline, this cable made of currently known materials could be dropped down to Earth’s vicinity for relatively free movement between geostationary orbit and the Moon
Lunar settlement declaration
As good today as it was 20 years ago
What’s next in the commercial space transportation market
Dallas Bienhoff on the near term future of launch and cis-lunar infrastructure
The economics of mining water on the Moon
This white paper outlines the business case and identifies the gaps to be closed
NASA announces partnerships with industry on technologies needed to settle space
Of particular interest is work with SpaceX to study on-orbit refueling and rocket plume interaction with lunar regolith: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-us-industry-partnerships-to-advance-moon-mars-technology
Lunar in situ resource utilization
Dennis Wingo summarizes the historical context and business case for ISRU to enable lunar settlements: https://denniswingo.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/chicken-egg-chicken-on-the-moon/
Astrobotic scores $5.6 million contract from NASA to deliver MoonRanger lunar rover
Partnering with Carnegie Mellon University the space robotics company was selected by NASA’s Lunar Surface and Instrumentation and Technology Payload (LSITP) program on July 1 to develop the autonomous rover to validate remote sensing and communication technologies to be used for eventual prospecting for lunar resources. The robot could be delivered to the lunar surface via the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program as soon as 2021:
Once in a Blue Moon
Jeff Bezo’s vision for space settlement and the unveiling of the Blue Moon lunar lander: