Science
- Deploy, assemble, inspect, or service Lagrange Point science missions (for example, Astrophysics or Heliophysics observatories). These could include Earth-Sun Lagrange Point science observatories assembled or serviced at Earth-Moon Lagrange Points, with the ability to transfer between assembly/servicing and operational Lagrange Points
- Measure solar wind
- Prepare for later science or exploration missions to the lunar surface or deep space (perhaps using exploration assembly or servicing nodes)
- Compare ISS science results to results at Earth-Moon Lagrange Points (for example, considering Earth's magnetosphere)
Commerce
- Encourage development of commercial services that can deploy, assemble, inspect, or service Lagrange Point science missions (for example, Astrophysics or Heliophysics observatories). These could include Earth-Sun Lagrange Point science observatories assembled or serviced at Earth-Moon Lagrange Points, with the ability to transfer between assembly/servicing and operational Lagrange Points. The capabilities developed here could be applied to commercial customers, possibly at other locations
- Encourage the development of commercial services that can assemble exploration missions for the government
- Encourage the development of commercial nodes at Earth-Moon Lagrange Points with the government as a customer
Security
- Jump-start capabilities that can be useful for security missions for other destinations (for example: fuel depots, satellite deployment, assembly, inspection, and/or servicing nodes, low-cost space access, etc)
1 comment:
Wow, there's so, so much more to do in all three areas you touch upon.
Science:
Your first point is key. The ability to use the interplanetary superhighways to move science instruments to various lagrange points around the Solar system, and then bring them home for servicing and upgrade before returning the upgraded instruments back on station, is going to change the way we do science data.
Even in cislunar space there's a lot of science. By being in a relatively fixed point above the Lunar surface you can train instruments down on the Moon to provide a continuous record of things like impacts, outgassings, or other weirdness. By the same token, you're fixed in a place high above the Earth, and so have perspective on traffic to out beyond GEO.
You can also look sideways and around, and start mapping the smaller bodies, mainly those that are Sunward of us, as well as out-of-plane objects.
Using this data, a 3-D gravitometric map can be developed of the inner Solar system, using the motions of the small bodies to map how the Sun and planets warp local space.
You have to think way beyond the box for what kind of science would be enabled by infrastructure at the Lagrange points. How about freeflyer platforms that ride the gravity well sphere around the Moon for variable length production runs of microgravity science and industrial payloads.
Speaking of industry, one could of course use private instruments to collect the small body information out at EML-1 and sell the data to subscribers.
If one is going to be doing any kind of salvage operations in GEO, the best long-term place to stage those sorties from is EML-1. It is cheaper, delta-V-wise, to go from EML-1 to GEO and back to EML-1, than it is to go from LEO to GEO.
Why would one want to salvage dead GEO sats? (a) Read the news, and (b) Each GEO sat (and abandoned kick stage, lots of those out there) is a sort of mini-LDEF, providing forensic data on how GEO assets 'weather' in their space environment. That data would be of great value to satellite builders, and the insurance companies would be breathing a lot easier.
It might even come to pass that insurers and operators end up pooling their resources and putting bounties on particular GEO scrap that is proving particularly troublesome. Once regular cislunar traffic is enabled with the right kind of infrastructure, this becomes a distinct possibility.
On the Security side, one can once again turn to the fact that EML-1 serves as a high ground for observation of cis-GEO space and keeping an eye on the traffic there. Keeping an eye on the small bodies of cis-Terran space would probably fall under the aegis of being a security concern.
EML-1 is the crossroads of cislunar space,and will serve a great variety of purposes, from fuel depots to intermodal logistics nodes, from transport nexus to portal to the Moon. Communications node, research facilities, workshop, tourist trap,you name it.
Should I go on?
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