asteroids to high earth orbit. Also, additional self-reproducing manufacturing facilities are constructed for the purpose of being sent to other asteroids, to repeat the process there. The smaller asteroid is used to construct solar power satellites, while the larger is used to construct space habitats. The number of solar power satellites which results is about 271. In one of the plans, the first solar power satellites reach geosynchronous orbit nine years and eight months after launch by the space shuttle for purposes of this plan begins, and they arrive in groups of fifteen at six month intervals. The larger asteroid is used to construct eight cylindrical habitats, which are entered by humans fourteen years and four months after the first launch. The population density of the habitats is assumed to be one person per 20,235 m2, and the total population of humans is 127,184. The cost to carry out this plan follows from the cost of development and construction of equipment on earth and associated support facilities. The total is estimated at $10.25 billion (1983 dollars). Additional research should be carried out on the capability and mass of self-reproducing manufacturing facilities before any of these plans should be more fully elaborated. Except for the 1977 NASA study on Space Resources and Space Settlement, self-reproducing manufacturing facilities are the basis of all the plans, but so far no self-reproducing manufacturing facilities have been built, nor have detailed designs been published. Capabilities to be researched include ability to perform full self-repair, and determination of rate of self-reproduction and construction of equipment other than copies. Such research should be directed and coordinated to arrive at a definitive design with the most precise cost estimates possible. The framework provided by the plans of the paper of which the present article is a synopsis will remain valid, but some details of masses and scheduling will have to be recomputed if the capabilities found for the self-reproducing manufacturing facilities differ from those assumed in the paper. Finally, the larger the number of copies of the self-reproducing manufacturing facilities required for a given construction task, the more difficult is the task of coordinated control of the facilities. In fact, this task would require artificial intelligence for the construction of the space habitats (in which 2^2 copies are in use simultaneously), and artificial intelligence might also be required to coordinate other construction operations, though smaller in scale. This artificial intelligence would be shared among computers on the manufacturing facilities and computers for design and control on earth. In addition, the development of artificial intelligence may be required to make possible the design of a self-reproducing manufacturing facility, especially at acceptable cost. It is thus desirable to perform research on artificial intelligence in parallel with research on development of self-reproducing manufacturing facilities. References [1] Hewitt, Judson T, "Development of Manufacturing Facilities in Space Able to Use Only Extraterrestrial Materials" Space Power vl2, nos. 3&4, 1993, p 175
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