Sunday, April 30, 2006

Interstellar shielding

Okay... time to go trekkie? No... This is real science


Shields Up! New Radiation Protection for Spacecraft and Astronauts on SPACE.com describes shielding based on electrostatic charges and arranging the "cryogenic" fluids in such a way that they capture interstellar radiation. Other articles discuss cold-plasma, the art and science of plasma torpedos and shielding.

Why post this here? Simple enough. You can not expect a large long-term crew or colony to exist in space if they are constantly bombarded with micro-particles and radiation. The earth has a natural series of protective devices (some of which, may or may not be in the process of being destroyed depending on who you talk to) that eliminate most of this threat. This natural shielding, unfortunately is not imparted to space-craft and station components, of which, the most sensitive is the contained life - you, me, and anything else shot into space that has the opportunity to learn, grow, and procreate.

Let me ask you, who is responsible for deploying your shield or your children's when we finally decide to vaction on the moon or take a tour of Mars up close and personal? If the technology is not developed, tested, and used now, what harm can befall those brave pioneers of our first permanent, non-research settlement I expect the ESA, JAXA, and/or NASA to attempt to setup on the moon by the end of the decade? This is not a time to take colonization lightly, each day, each test, each aerospace corporation whether or not owned by a government entity brings us closer to Asimovian visions of space life.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Intrasolar/Interplanetary Travel

Shipping Lanes


I know that traffic is light now on the Earth2Mars route, but one day, I envision major traffic from settlements and planets to other locales and destinations.


There will be major routes designated by the intrasolar habitats that will become crowded (relatively speaking of course). There will be a temptation to make excessive port fees. This is good for competition where multiple settlements share similar routes, but a hub-settlements, where all routes must pass will have no competition and therefore no external natural forces dictating prices. At this juncture I hope the ground work I have laid down on previous posts help eliminate extremes, however, it is possible that the other settlements and shipping industry will need to seek injunctions against extreme costs. I will not comment on the validity of this possibility beyond pointing it out.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Nomenclature

While scientists poke about


It may be no suprise to many of you that scientists do not know what the difference is between a planet, gas giant, star, or asteroid is. I have a simple solution to the definition problem that will also play heavily into stellar colonization in the future.



  1. Cosmic Dust - Dust, just like on earth usually fractions of an inch in particle size.

  2. Cosmic Rubble - Particles between dust and bolder sizes (say 5 metric tons)

  3. Asteroid - Any object larger than rubble whose own gravity does not force the object into a spheroid, or very close approximation.

  4. Minor planet - Any spheroidal rocky object incapable of sustaining more than .5G

  5. planet - Any spheroidal rocky object sustaining .5G - 2G (essentially being livable gravity)

  6. Major planet - Any spheroidal rocky object sustaining greater than 2G

  7. Minor Gas Planet - Any spheroidal object incapable of sustaining more than .5G at surface with no rocky core, or whose rocky core comprises less than 2% of its total mass

  8. Gas Planet - Any spheroidal object sustaining .5G - 2G at surface with no rocky core, or whose rocky core comprises less than 2% of its total mass

  9. Gas Giant - Any spheroidal object sustaining greater than 2G with no rocky core, or whose rocky core comprises less than 2% of its total mass

  10. [Added 05/23/2006]Minor Liquid Planet - Any spheroidal object incapable of sustaining more than .5G at surface with a rocky core comprising more than 2% of its total mass and none of the surface area.

  11. [Added 05/23/2006]Liquid Planet - Any spheroidal object sustaining .5G - 2G at surface with a rocky core comprising more than 2% of its total mass and none of the surface area.

  12. [Added 05/23/2006]Liquid Giant - Any spheroidal object sustaining greater than 2G with a rocky core comprising more than 2% of its total mass and none of the surface area.

  13. [Changed 05/23/2006]Gas Super Giant/Dwarf Star - Any spheroidal object capable of self-sustaining fusion that does not consume or involve enough mass to maintain a specific absolute brightness.

  14. [Changed 05/23/2006]Star - Any spheroidal object whose fusion consumes or involves enough mass to maintain a specific absolute brightness.


Beyond this, according to currently held views, is just collections of these objects. Please comment or refine these definitions below.