On Thu, 21 May 2009 14:16:41 -0700, BradGuth wrote:

On May 21, 11:27Â*am, Marvin the Martian wrote:
On Thu, 21 May 2009 11:07:17 -0700, BradGuth wrote:
On May 20, 9:40Â*am, wrote:
"Space bigwigs in Russia and Europe are working on ambitious plans
for an international space shipyard in orbit above the Earth,
according to reports. The orbital shipyard would be used to assemble
manned spacecraft capable of travelling to the Moon or Mars."

Source:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05...d_discussions/

The one and only viable location for this "orbital shipyard" is
within the Earth-moon L1 (aka Selene L1), because that's where the
most volumetric tonnage can safely coexist with the least amount of
applied energy.

The additional energy to go to L1 is a big negative to go there. L1 is
closer to the moon than earth, so it is also outside the protection of
the van Allen radiation belts.

According to all the "right stuff" that you and all others of your kind
have to 100% believe in, there's hardly any radiation to worry about,

Not true. Zubrin covers the additional radiation induced cancer risk in
his book, "The Case for Mars". The hab he proposed has a shielded
radiation safe room, which cuts down exposure during solar storms.

On Mars, you're get a great deal of protection from the atmosphere. You
can cover your hab with Martian soil for additional protection.

This argument is a bitter straw dog. No one said there was "hardly any
radiation", they said it could be managed.

near Zero radiation coming off the moon, and oddly it's actually
freezing cold between Earth and our moon.

However, since coasting requires zero energy, and the gravity of Earth
does all the necessary braking in order to sort of glide payloads
effortlessly and park whatever into the Earth-moon L1, therefore I and
the regular laws of physics do not agree with your analogy that's based
upon obfuscation.

Your ranting about some fiction you've created about what Zubrin et al
understand to be true is so utterly strange that I don't know what you're
talking about, and again, neither do you.

Two big problems with L1; it is an unstable equilibrium point, like a
ball balanced on top of a hill. It also has no material to be of any use.
It's fine as an observation point if you want to put a satellite with
station keeping capability there, but a colony? No. If you wanted a
station out in the middle of nowhere, you'd put it at L4 or L5, one of
the two stable equilibrium points.

IT makes so much sense, there is even an "L5 society".