The trouble with space stations

rk wrote:

So what makes space stations, either in general or the ISS in particular,
so tough to build?

I would say: lack of interest.

Annual Operating and Support Costs for Nuclear Powered Carriers (Fiscal year
1993 dollars): Nimitz-class nuclear carrier $235'400'000. The Clinton
administration's FY2001 shipbuilding budget included $4'000'000'000 for the
10th and final Nimitz class aircraft carrier (conventional type cost
$2'500'000'000 each).

Space Station complete building cost has a ceiling of $17'400'000'000 and it
is build in the time to build 4 carriers. So you may think that in the 16
years of the Space Station construction, every four years you build one
Carrier less.

Refueling (with russian Progress automated cargo ships) cost is less than
$40'000'000 per flight and 3 per year are required (that is $120'000'000
per year, to keep Space Station working).

The problem is the shuttle. It is theoretically more efficient, but it is a
clear economic failure.

Pekilan

China (in today's $) could probably accomplish that 40 million
$/Progress automated cargo shipment for less than 4 million. But then
we'd have to admit that them Chinks might actually know a thing or two.

Of course, notions of moving ISS off to station-keep within ME-L1/EM-L2
might be a little too far outside the box for even Russia to manage,
though it's certainly doable as a temporary solution for taking up the
LSE position and thus holding title until something other can be
arranged.
~

Life upon Venus, a township w/Bridge & ET/UFO Park-n-Ride Tarmac:
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/gv-town.htm
The Russian/China LSE-CM/ISS (Lunar Space Elevator)
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/lunar-space-elevator.htm
Venus ETs, plus the updated sub-topics; Brad Guth / GASA-IEIS
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/gv-topics.htm
War is war, thus "in war there are no rules" - In fact, war has been
the very reason of having to deal with the likes of others that haven't
been playing by whatever rules, such as GW Bush.

pekilan,
If our spendy ISS could as it should be relocated towards the moon, as
per station-keeping within the best possible LSE-CM/ISS zone that's
pretty much centered upon being situated directly between the moon and
Earth, as initially coasting interactively at roughly 62,000 km from
the center of the moon or less than 60,000 km off the deck, as such the
interactive nature of sustaining itself within this mutual
gravity-well/nullification zone could prove highly interesting and most
certainly technically challenging to say the least.

Thus "The trouble with space stations" could become a new and improved
reality show that's for real.

BTW; there is no actual cost involved if the payback is greater. How
about contemplating upon a 1000:1 payback?

Even though we know a whole lot better than what our NASA/Apollo bible
stipulates, that way out there is little if any radiation to worry
about, eventually the added layer of shielding upon ISS could be
resolved with simply augmenting the ISS platform with an entirely new
and improved habitat module that's sufficiently robust and/or
surrounded with several meters depth in plain old water. Or, that of
providing an extra thick external shell or tank that'll surround what's
already there is certainly worth being plan-b. The task of filling up
the outer hull that's surrounding the intended habitat zone that's
sequestered deep within can obviously be remotely accomplished via
robotic deliveries of that extremely large volume of water. 10+ meters
of water should be sufficient for starters.

Since we still have absolutely no hard-science upon ice surviving in
such nearby space, perhaps this would be a perfectly good opportunity
as to learning another thing or two by way of delivering some of that
water for shielding the new and improved ISS via blocks or spheres of
plain old raw ice, as having been dragged along for the ride, as per
given 100% external exposure to whatever's the vacuum of space and of
whatever the solar 1.4 kw/m2 has to offer. At least then we'd know a
great deal more as to how other forms of ice having survived the
horrific gauntlet of space travel and/or that of being transported via
icy proto-moons managed to have deposited any remainders of such ice
and of the DNA/RNA within upon Earth.
~

Life upon Venus, a township w/Bridge & ET/UFO Park-n-Ride Tarmac:
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/gv-town.htm
The Russian/China LSE-CM/ISS (Lunar Space Elevator)
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/lunar-space-elevator.htm
Venus ETs, plus the updated sub-topics; Brad Guth / GASA-IEIS
http://guthvenus.tripod.com/gv-topics.htm
War is war, thus "in war there are no rules" - In fact, war has been
the very reason of having to deal with the likes of others that haven't
been playing by whatever rules, such as GW Bush.