For this project the ISS is your forward work camp... You send up
multiple loads to the ISS... There the loads are assembled into trains
and boosted off to orbit Mars...

I agree with the overall tenor of your post, Denny. However, I think
you may be mistaken when it comes to the role of the space station.

I may be crazy, but I think I remember reading that the ISS, although
originally intended to serve in the role you describe for it, was
actually put into an orbit that makes it less than suitable for
boosting anything onto mars or the moon. Unless I'm sadly mistaken,
this was one of the things left on the cutting room floor, back when
the budget debates over construction of the ISS were under way.

Perhaps there's a way to change that now? Can the whole ISS be
boosted into a higher orbit?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"