Space Transportation Infrastructure Supported By Propellant Depots

What can space resources do for astronomy and planetary science?

“…The 2011 Planetary Science Decadal report "Vision and Voyages" recommended three large-class missions, one each to Mars, Europa and Uranus 17 . But only one can be done per decade 18 , making this a 30-year program for even the top handful of priorities. The Mars mission was chosen 19 , and it is only the first half of a Mars sample return program.…”

“…A few year extention may be possible. http://jwst.nasa.gov/faq_scientists.html#lifetime 17 Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (2011) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13117/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-in-the-decade-2013-2022 18 Although the Europa mission was revived in a cleverly designed cheaper mission, Europa Clipper, it now seems unlikely to launch before the "late 2020s" (http://www.space.com/31887-nasa-europa-missionlaunch-late-2020s.html); the once per decade cadence remains in place. 19 in modified form as Mars 2020 (http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview/) 20 New Horizons web site: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu other stars is an idea that has already been studied.…”

“…Herschel, Planck, and JWST all use this orbit. With a delta-v of 0.4 km s -1 [18] it is energetically easy to reach ES-L2 from EM-L1. Planetary Science will gain the ability to fuel interplanetary probes at the top of the Earth's gravity well, enabling large payloads to be delivered.…”

“…What can we do to ensure that ever greater observatories lie ahead? The new large space telescopes now being discussed will not launch for [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] years. On that timescale much is going to change that could help our field.…”

“…But only one can be done per decade 18 , making this a 30-year program for even the top handful of priorities. The Mars mission was chosen 19 , and it is only the first half of a Mars sample return program.…”