NASA FY24 Budget Testimony

 House CSJ Appropriations Subcommittee, April 14, 2023

I write to request that the budget of NASA funding be increased by a factor of 3. One half of the increase would be used to fund the Artemis program. The other half would be spent on two projects: development of a space elevator and prototyping of a space station to test whether gravity generated by centrifugal force is actually practical. If it is not, then the goal of manned space flight cannot proceed past Artemis until some kind of constant boost propulsion system can be devised.

To pay for this funding, decrease  the appropriations for the Defense Department for RDT&E and Procurement. DoD spending cannot easily be converted to just any sort of program. It must fund a similar industrial base or spending for war cannot be reduced. For this reason, responsibility for funding NASA and the National Space Council would be overseen by the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee as part of a larger committee realignment.

How do we put up a space elevator? Inside the atmosphere there should be two stages. One will be firm, with the other retractable. Both would be designed and built by Sierra or a competing vendor who would develop inflatable modules. Modules would be  filled with helium. The lower, retractable stage would be withdrawn in the event of major storm events that may damage the entire system, including the geostationary station. The entire tube structure will be inflatable. 

Whether the retractable portion is in a single segment, or multiple segments, is a design issue. The lower segment will be assisted by helicopter structures for controlled retraction to the intake station on the Pacific Ocean surface. The upper segment would retract to the upper stable portion. Middle portions would be deflated, separated and parachute to the surface in case of emergency. Chutes would have glide functions and both autonomous and controlled functions for guidance toward recovery vessels outside the weather event.

Construction and reattachment would be accomplished with helicopter structures with rotors arrayed similar to current drone technology, with rotation units at each end, with structures at the mating point inward by one segment from mating points. Segments would be longer than those used for orbital stations. 

If necessary, these structures may be permanently in operation to support and control flexible sections and run by solar power generated (and stored) from the surface or by thorium reactors at the space based and surface portions.

Elevator tubes would transport one or more of the following: Steam, with heating at higher altitudes or gaseous hydrogen and oxygen; and vacuum to move small objects (the universe is full of it).

Steam tubes would be heated at altitude where condensation occurs naturally. Where it freezes, steam could be transferred to an automated section where it is allowed to do so and be transferred to to an additional pneumatic tube (which may also begin at the surface), to travel as cylinders of ice. Eventually, a larger pneumatic would be constructed to transport manned capsules and deflated and disassembled Sierra modules for construction. At some point, to the tube stacks will require some form of magnetic shielding to repel micro-meteorites and space junk.

On the way up the elevator, there will be habitats at lunar and Martian gravity for training and acclimation purposes. Initial construction of the geostationary port will be in LEO. At final construction, station will be lifted with the center of gravity constantly at GSO, with the small boosts as modules are built down as others are built up from the surface.

Centrifugal Gravity Test would contain fixed and inflatable elements. A hard module will be required for docking, power production (or integration from solar arrays) and for flywheel to add or break (and capture energy from) spin.

A series of small diameter Inflatable modules would be attached along two sides of one axis. At the end of each structure, there will be four to eight full size modules for crew attached at a single node for either one or two rings. Axial be modules will be inflated one at a time (on each side) until an optimal distance and rotational speed is discovered for each gravitational be level.

Eventually, should a rotational radius and speed prove viable, the follow-on station (or additions to the original station) would include a larger tube for a magnetic or pneumatic elevator, supplemented by smaller tubes for emergency egress. Additional axis would be added so that rings may be added with Lunar, Martian and Earth gravity habitation. Magnetic shielding will be added and air replaced with water, as above. 

The best first mission to Mars and any mission to Venus or a gas or ice giant should be a ringed station. Call it Orbital JPL. Such stations can do measurements and send probes into atmosphere or, for Mars and Luna, do what Gateway is planned to do - but with gravity and shielding. If we cannot make this work, there is no reason to continue with manned exploration. Even unmanned missions would be a waste of time. A large station in Jovian orbit, however, would be worth the effort.

To more easily fund space within the same allocation, transfer NASA and the National Space Council to the Defense Subcommittee so that reductions to defense research and procurement would be offset with increased budget for space exploration.