Idea: Tow ISS to EML-1

This post rates a speculation alert.

There was a Next Big Future post lately which discussed what to do with the ISS after 2020.

Somebody in the comments section may have suggested towing the station towards the first libation point between Earth and the Moon.

It seems like a good idea.  You have to do something with the station after its useful life is over.  You can ditch it into the ocean, or you can use the mass as an anchor for a Moonstalk.

The station is much smaller in mass than the anchor envisioned earlier.  But it could be a start.

Perhaps a less massive object could use a less strong cable.  If so, the weight of over 60k miles of cable could be reduced.  On the other hand, a lighter weight cable could break more easily.

Whatever is decided, a station at EML-1 would be a coup.  An anchor towards the lunar surface would be an even bigger coup.  In order to make that happen, there will have to be some preparations on the surface.

I've been thinking about that one all day.  How would you do that?  You may try drilling and/or digging.  The anchor will have to be placed in such a fashion as to be able to resist a lot of forces placed upon it.  So, it may have to be quite massive itself.  This implies a lot of work to bring about this result.

Perhaps you can use lunar materials for this purpose.  That would save launch expenses from the Earth.

If you drill and/or dig, you will need to send the equipment.  This will take a launcher that can do the job, plus a lander.  Of course, a big enough rocket from Earth that can lift it all and send it to the Moon.

I was thinking that the equipment could have a needle like opening where a tether could be threaded through it towards the lunar surface.  A drill could also fit through this hole and go through it towards the surface and begin digging.  Once the hole is drilled, the cable could be threaded through it.  That means the drill would have be moved out of the way.  That would have to take some ingenuity.

How deep to dig the hole?  Nobody has done anything like this before, so you don't know what will happen when you try it.  Perhaps you need water, but that would be in short supply.  In fact, anything that has to go into the hole that has to be brought from Earth would be quite expensive.

If you can dig deep enough and also do some horizontal drilling, perhaps you can fill the hole with something that will flow into it and harden.  I'm thinking iron from the lunar regolith itself.  If you can set it up like a root that won't be pulled up easily, perhaps enough mass can scrounged up that will do the job.

Pour the iron down into the hole and then build up around it at the surface.  You may need many tons of the stuff to do the job.  If the rig can be moved, on wheels say, then dig more holes.  In this way, you can set up a strong anchor base that be attached to a heavy object in space at L1.

How to thread the needle?  I'm thinking the photonic thruster mentioned in a previous post.  This will stretch out the cable--- from the libation point all the way to the surface.  Thread the needle and then tighten up the cable.  The system will be installed, but it may take more work to make it something that will last.

Eventually, the Moonstalk may be strong enough to start sending stuff up and down from the surface.

Materials can be exchanged as mentioned.  Eventually, asteroids could be brought in and processed.  The final result should be a station that can also be a gateway to the surface and back to Earth and other destinations.

The ISS could house crew as a temporary shelter.  Eventually, the asteroidal material may allow you to construct a more spaceworthy home without having to bring it from Earth.  At that point, the ISS itself can be deconstructed and its materials recycled to produce other useful items.