exploration crew. Following the deployment of the LSB, preparations will begin for the buildup to the permanent lunar colony. This buildup period will be approximately five years. The lunar logistics tug will support the initial deployment of the LSB and will provide logistics support to the base for its first year of operation. An advanced logistics tug will begin operation in 1990 in conjunction with the upgrading of the BNS to a gaseous core reactor engine. These transportation system elements will support the base buildup from the 12 man LSB to the 200 man permanent lunar colony to be completed by 1994. (c) Permanent Lunar Colony - 1994 This facility will be the mining, refining and shipping center supporting the construction of the space colony at L5. The colony will of necessity become almost self-sufficient due to the logistics requirements of the construction facility at L5. Facilities at the colony will include mining, ore reduction, oxygen production, agriculture, living quarters, recreation, transportation and power. The buildup rate and mass of the lunar colony elements dictate the upgrading of all transportatio system elements, i.e., the RNS (gas core), the Advanced Logistics Tug and the "Super" Shuttle. The MSFC schedule for this program has been designed to accommodate the construction of the first space colony in the year 2000. NASA Headquarters projects that space colonization will occur about 20 years later; O'Neill believes that if we were to start now the first space colony could be in place by 1990 (Rer. 13).
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