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Space Exploration, Now

Today, we are building a better space transportation system. This is the era of safer, cheaper, better. Safer - - because space is a dangerous place and we place a high value on getting back home. Cheaper - - not a degradation that compromises mission safety, but, one that can be launched and maintained with lesser resources. Better - - because we use technologies that exist in this millennium and not based on those available the middle of the last century. Technologies that have been utilized by space faring vehicles and tested on the launch pad.

Our new space transportation system will take us to low orbit, but it doesn't stop there. By adding new elements, the new space transportation system to take astronauts out of Earth orbit and to other destinations in the solar system. Our nearest neighbor, the Moon, is our testing ground and from there we will travel to Mars and the most promising asteroids, eventually moving on to the outer solar system and in some distant era, to the stars....

Read more about this new era of space exploration on NASA site: NASA Future: The Vision for Space Exploration

Needs of a space faring nation . . .

Cargo transport vessel
Passenger transport vessel
Transfer Vehicles
Robotic transfer vehicles

Lunar Operations
Mars Operations
Outer Solar System Explorer
Asteroid Operations

Roadmap for Space Colonization

Four Stages to a full Space Colony

Stage One: Exploratory

Mapping
Site Selection
Preparation

Collecting samples, develop equipment, transportation space ships, surface vehicles. This could be considered a "space base."

Stage Two: Setup Outpost

Establish Base
Begin Surface Mining
Begin O2 Production

Stage Three: Base

Permanently Occupied Facility
Develop Surface Transportation
Continue to Enhance Mining and O2 Production

Stage Four: Settlement

Colony Supports up to 100 People
Well-established Laboratories, Mining, O2 Production
Support Satellite Outposts in Outlying Areas

Stage Five: Full Colony

Practically Self sufficient, it supports up to 1000
Manufacture Needs
Support Other Missions
Population Expansion

Pages of Space Visionaries

Space Visionaries - from Wikipedia, people who dreamed of space exploration and helped make it happen
Canada's Space Visionaries - Seeing 2020
JaxaVision - Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency
SEDS SpaceVision 2006 - Annual Conference

=> Return to Astra's Space Exploration Page