Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices Message Board

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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: bentway who wrote (400963)	7/23/2008 11:14:40 AM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (1) of 1576054

"I've always felt we'd have to find something valuable out there to actually get us into space in a big way. Maybe it's energy?" There have always been reasons. But the cost has always been the killer. The war in Iraq has probably changed some of that. Estimated costs of a Lofstrom Loop has been pegged at $10 billion plus. That has always been the stumbling block, but that is a month or two in Iraq. Likewise, the $100 billion or so to develop and build a Project Orion craft is about a year. You can even argue we should do both. The Orion would put all the infrastructure in space we need like several space stations, a lunar base and some nuclear thermal rockets for traveling between LEO and the lunar surface, and the Loop for getting into orbit for a few bucks a kilo. We could own cislunar space with low cost travel and be able to produce powersats for a very low cost. All for what we spend in a year or two in Iraq. Factor in the value of the technologies developed... So, what is the value of total energy independence, the ability to mine the Moon and all the spin off technologies?

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