starship-design: Starship-Design: Let's build the thing!

[Stravonski@aol.com]

Kyle,

	I first found LIT back in mid-late 1994.  I think for the discussion 
that have been going on, five years is incredible.  I do think that maybe 
people might be getting all talked out.  How long can you talk about going to 
Disney World before you just want to go there.  I myself had always hope that 
LIT could take all the ideas and information collected in this think tank and 
attempt to get real-world backing.  After all, someday someone will be the 
first to actually do this feat, why not us?

	I know the group had discussed destination star systems back in 1995, 
but I honestly forgot which one was selected.  Of course, now there have been 
real planets discovered since the destination discussion and that may well 
change where we should go.  Since this would be a prototype vessel (we are 
still planning a single ship aren't we?), I would make a recommendation that 
we shoot over to Proxima Centauri and back to make sure everything works well 
before we do any really big trips.  Any comments on this?

	Another thing we could start doing is trying to put a price tag on 
this mission, unless that's already been done and I missed it when I was in 
Australia.  If it hasn't been done, we should try and attach some real 
figures to the construction, launching, testing, and maintenance of the ship. 
 That information could then be used to see how much backing we need to get 
the thing going.  It would give LIT some good publicity (Worldwide Internet 
Think Tank Attempts to Acquire Backing for Interstellar Spacecraft), and show 
everyone on the planet that we feel that space advancement and exploration is 
proceeding at a snail's pace.  Why if it weren't for McNamara doing so much 
damage to NASA, we'd have landed a manned team on Mars in the 1980s.  What do 
you all think?

Mike Pfeifer
Systems Analyst
Colorado