John Savard,
I like your "Space Habitat" design work. Unlike our NASA that's still
hooked deep in Apollo damage control mode, at least you're sharing a
great deal as to what's technically doable, especially if it were
established within the nearby safety and efficiency of the LL-1 zone.
http://www.quadibloc.com/science/spaint.htm

However, why even bother with all the spendy and damn risky R&D of
establishing an LEO or L-whatever "Space Habitat", or even for that
matter of any notions of ever having a permanent Moon Based Habitat of
basis of operations when we can simply rent or lease volumes of
habitat/hotel facilities and services from the Chinese LSE-CM/ISS (aka
Lunar Space Elevator)?

With the Chinese CM/ISS having 1e6 m3 to start off with, and of there
being absolutely no limits as to enlarging upon that volume that's
surrounded by a structural shield of 50t/m2, to becoming at least worth
offering something greater than 1e9 m3, and of that infrastructure
providing such a safe abode (AKA space depot/spaceport or
interplanetary pitstop) that's so easy and efficient for getting
ourselves and whatever tonnage to/from LL-1 because, it's obviously so
gosh darn nearby and so nicely gravity aligned (not to mention having
deployed a tether dipole element that's within 4r of mother Earth), and
otherwise efficiently operating from it's own resources with terawatts
to spare, thus why should yourself or even "Branson and Bigelow" bother
with having to establish their own space habitat/hotel, or that of any
other space-depot or perhaps even suggesting that of having your own
moon-base of operations that'll only have to be entirely underground,
especially since the lobby of this one and only Lunar Space Elevator
that's to be owned and operated by China should in of itself offer us
yet another robust 1e9 m3 facility.

Do you speak a little Chinese, or do you know of someone that does?
-
Brad Guth