Why the Moon, Mars and Beyond? It is a Matter of Surviving - Part II

October 3, 2009

by DC Lee

Back in January of this year, just after Obama was sworn in as President, he got into a controversy by saying the $787 billion stimulus bill would save construction equipment maker Caterpillar from having to cut 20,000 jobs. The stimulus bill has come and while going, it has not saved those jobs at Caterpillar nor at numerous other business and industries.

One way to actually stimulate Caterpillar and the economy is to spend those billions going to the moon, Mars and beyond.

John F, Kennedy said we should not go to the moon because it is easy, but because it is hard. And he was right and that goal is still right. Plus it will create many, many high paying jobs and positions that will get the economy back on a rising track.

To begin with those lost jobs at Caterpillar, going to the moon, Mars and beyond will require construction equipment: bulldozers, front end loaders, backhoes, drag lines, cranes and such. New version modified to work on the dust covered, airless surface of the moon where there is an abundance of priceless Helium-3, the perfect fuel for nuclear fusion. New versions for working in the thin atmosphere of Mars and versions to mine the asteroid belt for uncounted trillions and trillions of dollars in precious minerals and substances yet to be discovered.

It is like the gold strike in 1849 California and a liberal Democrat congress says it is too expensive to go all that way. And if we go there, it is too hard and costly to mine. We better just forget it and spend the money on our supporters here at home. Sound familiar?

Okay, here is what we should do including the aforementioned task for Caterpillar and other equipment companies to star designing and producing machines we can use on the moon, Mars and the asteroids.

When the Space Shuttle was proposed, a cargo only version was proposed. Politics shot it down. Revive it as the shuttle system works and works well with over 125 flights with only two failures. A cargo version would take away the fear of losing lives and it could be easily modified to carry much larger loads. Just tested was a five segment version of the Space Shuttle's twin solid fuel booster rockets. The new version is 30 to 40 percent more powerful. In addition to an enlarged liquid fuel tank on the cargo shuttle and adding a third of these on the fuel tank opposite the shuttle, payloads of 50 to 100 tons per launch are feasible.

Keep the current Shuttle System while building new modified versions that take advantage of current and near future technology. Design it and the cargo version to go to moon orbit, deliver a payload, crews and return. Going back to a capsule based system is just that, going backward no matter what new technology is used.

And the shuttle's huge orange fuel tanks were once proposed to be taken all the way into into orbit. There were plans to use those expended, empty tanks for space stations. Such designs were tossed away. Instead, use redesigned tanks as the building blocks for bases on the moon and even Mars where dozers and such will have excavated the site for burying them.

Moon Shuttle Tugs could be designed to rise up from the moon base, meet the tanks in lunar orbit and deliver them to the surface. These tugs could be even fueled from what is left in the shuttle tanks. Once these tanks are on the ground, they will have been modified for conversion to subsurface living and storage space.

As Global Positioning System has proved to be a success here on Earth, we need the same GPS system around the moon and Mars. Once these systems are up and running, missions will be able land at the same spots over and over again. Plus the GPS satellites can be modified to allow a global communication grid. This would be essential for the far side of the moon that never faces earth.

Since water is likely to be found on the moon, it will be a plus for not only something to drink and sustain life, but splitting it into oxygen and hydrogen will make rocket fuel. On Mars there are also prospects for water and the Martian atmosphere will allow methane can be manufactured. Methane and Oxygen is also a rocket fuel.

Since it appears the water source on the moon is at the poles where the sun never sets, solar power stations would be there to provide continuing electricity until mini-nuclear plants, such as those now being commercially developed by Hyperion Power Generation, would power bases elsewhere on the moon, on Mars and in the deep space of the asteroid belt and beyond.

As these mini-nuclear plants are being developed, they will possibly become the basis for ion powered spacecraft that travel on their far distant missions at a constant boost to attain unheard of velocities.

Now there are many, many, many more details that would need to be worked out but these above proposals would be much more likely to stimulate our sagging economy than that non-stimulus bill now slowly wasting precious dollars on pure pork projects.

There is a sizable asteroid or comet out in the solar system right now headed our way for an impact on the surface of the Earth. All we don't know is when but it has happened before and it will happen again. And that will destroy mankind for once and for all unless we are on the moon, Mars and beyond.

In addition to wanting economic health for the United States, I want my species to survive and going into space is the only way to insure that.