Communique set one and I have a long discussion going about projects. One of these is the Brin sky crane. I think it's feasible if you make the crane really thin and curved along the direction of Earth's rotation, with tension cables on either side for support. It would only have to support several dozen "space trucks" at a time which would climb along the crane until it reached an altitude where escape velocity would be very small. These trucks then could be the size of today's trucks and could carry enough fuel to go a long distance with cargo.
Other agenda items: Terraforming practice site on Oz -- potential habitats for displaced species Environmental priorities [water, metal, not so much air since we can make air] Parallel development of internal combustion and electric fuels and sources Materials discussion [tabled plastics and gene-splicing, yes to growing material by specification using "ordinary" methods] Roads everywhere [materials problem] Housing [yurts, materials problem] Waste disposal [if we plan carefully we can minimize this] Cable bridges to "ferry" vehicles over obstacles; cable rapid transit Space station in orbit around the moon Skewed solar orbiting agriculture stations; we supply and harvest twice a year [makes good orbital maneuvering practice] Underground habitats Buncha other stuff about migration and policy We discussed the relative merits of women all over the world Big problem with lack of skilled labor and universities I welcome feedback and comments from people on this list, btw.
