What tons are you talking about now? You’ not gonna give us some metric issues now are you?

Now. Namibia appears “friendly”. I could not find anything bad on the Dept. of State site nor on the CIA site. See here for example http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5472.htm I am sure we can work an export control license. On the other hand do we plan to import? Or do we plan to export the SLS to Namibia? I surmise they would pay us with rocks if we were to export an SLS. And SLS would be the first stepping stone (no pun intended of course) in the Namibian space program.

Ah Ah. So here is the trick. Since they don’t have a launch pad in Namibia we offer them to use ours at KSC via an international SAA. And therefore we do not export anything.

Remains the issue of bringing the rock all the way to KSC. Can we send the Navy? With our colors flying high on an aircraft carrier, a display of benevolent force. We make it an event at the UN. We ask coverage by the media – Fox News comes to mind.

What an astonishing thing to do. Mesmerizing. The first time the Earth sends something that came from space back to space.

But there is a problem. We’d best to get the rock from Alabama. Congressional dollars must flow in the right direction, you see. Are there any 100 ton meteorites in Alabama? Hmmm. The Sylacauga meteorite is famous because it actually hit someone (which sends the right message, policy-wise) in Alabama but it’s just a few pounds, and an astronaut will have trouble standing on it or erecting a flag on it.

Now the 60 ton Hoba meteorite might do it, if we can get Shelby to bless it. But can you imagine the problems we’re going to have with export control in working with Namibia on that piece of space hardware?

On the other hand I do like that you are making some efforts in simplifying the mission since it will reduce costs as well.

I would like to offer a slight variant. Since you don’t seem to like my idea of retrieving the Moon or Mars. And in order to give some credibility to your own idea. Here goes. Let’s find a nice meteorite and loft it with SLS somewhere in LEO. Then we can send astronauts to visit a real life rock that we know for sure actually already hit the Earth. Which would even lend some credibility to the idea of studying impactors. See what I mean?

Ah. Now. About the water. I would strongly, very strongly recommend we do not get any astronaut to walk on lunar water. Because you know, set in stone requirements and astronauts walking on water… It’d be a total mess.

And then ITAR would be totally moot. Does it address transfer of technology to off-this-Earth nations??? Dunno. Seems complicated.

Just sayin’

Oh my goodness. If we mined water at the lunar poles, we could save a bundle, by just launching the cement and aggregates! It all fits, I tell ya!

In the context of this thread, of course the major advantage of such a payload is that ITAR need not be involved.

The rag tag space program that saved NASA’s arse during the Shuttle stand down after Columbia.

Now you should pay attention to this remark “Export controls are simply about international competitiveness” and that alone should tell you that the “ragtag” he is referring to is his brain. Which I agree with. We should jettison the ragtag.

Heh. Wouldn’t we all like to do it ourselves? Not gonna happen. To what “rag tag” were you referring? Oh, you mean the ones that launch our astronauts? The ones that are world leaders in on-orbit telerobotics? The ones that have pioneered a new generation in suit technology? Yes, let’s get rid of the “rag tag” so we can actually DO something, like building an HLV that we can afford to launch concrete with.

International participation has hobbled the US space program ever since the shuttle first started visiting Mir. Like most Americans, I’d rather see this country go its own way in space and jettison the rag tag.

Export controls are simply about international competitiveness. I support relaxing them to a point. But Russia and China are notorious for stealing technology, and any new policy must not help them in their work.