| I don't have any recent 'REAL' information on the space station, although I
HAVE heard the original announcements about it. The one piece of information
I DO have is in the preparatory information sent out by the Space Camp at the
Alabama Space and Rocket Center. The quote is as follows:
"During the course of the [space camper's] mission a visit
will be made to a space station. [1mNow under development by
NASA[0m, the station will be nearly 400 feet tall. The crew members
will live and work in five cylindrical modules located at the
base (earth pointing) end of the station..."
The passage is accompanied by very detailed blueprints of the station-to-be,
including measurements and some operational characteristics.
I haven't seen any official reports on the status of the project lately, but
I'll be checking on it when I'm down there next weekend.
Jim }.)
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| I have some notes at home on this....
The "Space Factory" (if I'm thinking of the right project) is a
private-industry-funded project, sponsored by NASA.
It is not a factory where people live and work (like the
aforementioned space station). The Space Factory is a
micro-gravity materials processing plant.
The shuttle drops it off in orbit (or assembles it - I forget how
big this sucker is). Onboard computers and ground control links
keep it running smoothly. The shuttle stops by now and then to
pick up the finished goods, and restock raw materials. I believe
it is modular and can be expanded and pulled apart for
refurbishing on the ground.
Products include pharmaceuticals, "un-earthly" alloys, etc.
I'll try to get more info on it...
- dave
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