Capt. Picard says no to space travel

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-02-09 08:52am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Mars is yet another Hell. Space is the only place we should allow Man to live.

What exactly is the advantages of living in empty vacuam ?

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-09 08:55am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Mars is yet another Hell. Space is the only place we should allow Man to live.

I'll book you on the next Ariane or Proton rocket out to space then.

Send us a postcard in a week and tell us how you're doing.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-09 08:55am

Space colonies.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-02-09 09:01am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Space colonies.

Space colonies are floating space stations that dont produce anything so they are uneconomical to build and operate.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-09 09:02am

evilcat4000 wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Space colonies.
Space colonies are floating space stations that dont produce anything so they are uneconomical to build and operate.

Educate yourself before speaking such falsehoods.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-02-09 09:06am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
evilcat4000 wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Space colonies.
Space colonies are floating space stations that dont produce anything so they are uneconomical to build and operate.
Educate yourself before speaking such falsehoods.

Educate me on the advantages of space colonies over Mars colonies please.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-09 09:08am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
evilcat4000 wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Space colonies.
Space colonies are floating space stations that dont produce anything so they are uneconomical to build and operate.
Educate yourself before speaking such falsehoods.

You need to find a good place to set one up and have the ore available from 'roids without being too uneconomical.

So that's set in a planet's orbit or Lagrange point and with a relatively close 'roid populace. But you still have the problems of building one, the fact that micrometeorites will make the thing Swiss cheese unless very heavily armoured and you have extreme temperature and radiation changes on the bare structure.

No, I'd rather be on a planet anyday, far safer and simpler.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-09 09:09am

With Island III colonies, you can hold 3-10 million people in a cylinder large enough for comfortable gravity, and with enough power and food.

This of course is not a Pop'n'fresh plan, but one that takes at least a few decades to set up, but an additional advantage would be a space-based economy from lunar and asteroid mining.

Read Gerard K. O'Neill's book The High Fronteer for specifics and detales, as it's rather long and complicated.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-09 09:15am

Well hell, Tranquillity is the same concept with a biomechanical nature to help keep maintenance up in the Night's Dawn Trilogy, but it's still a large structure some 65km long and complicated and still has to follow the recommendations I set out.

It's still far easier to have a decent planet habitat if you can since gravity is readily supplied and you have better protection due to the atmosphere. I doubt we'll see habitats that big anytime soon so that's why we're looking at modular space bases or the like.

I personally would prefer orbitals, but that's a bit beyond us.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-02-09 09:15am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:With Island III colonies, you can hold 3-10 million people in a cylinder large enough for comfortable gravity, and with enough power and food.
.

True but you forget that Mars can hold billions of people.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-09 09:17am

So can colonies.

Fine, stay on your filthy planest.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-02-09 09:17am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:With Island III colonies, you can hold 3-10 million people in a cylinder large enough for comfortable gravity, and with enough power and food.

This of course is not a Pop'n'fresh plan, but one that takes at least a few decades to set up, but an additional advantage would be a space-based economy from lunar and asteroid mining.

Read Gerard K. O'Neill's book The High Fronteer for specifics and detales, as it's rather long and complicated.

Hear hear! That's really what we need to do; clench our teeth, shudder, and fork over the money to establish a self-sustained colony in orbit, complete not only with habitations, but with industrial facilities. Once that is done, it will be much easier for further progress in space to be made at a vastly reduced cost, because we won't have to ship everything the later colonists need into orbit, it can be built right there for them.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-09 10:39am

I knew if someone came to my support, it'd probably be you, Marina.

*hugs*

Ahem...

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-02-11 09:46am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I knew if someone came to my support, it'd probably be you, Marina. *hugs*

Ahem...

...How good are you with a sniper rifle?

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-02-11 01:53pm

If we're going to build in space, just go the whole hog and build Island Fours. We can't get them Orbital sized yet, but we do have the material strength for smaller ones.

Of course, the economic price is absurd compared to planetary colonies at this time.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-11 02:04pm

There's no such thing as an Island IV, last time I checked. At least, not officially.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-02-11 02:10pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:There's no such thing as an Island IV, last time I checked. At least, not officially.

It's a Ring, of course. It was part of the original research project, but deemed 'economically unsound'.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-02-11 03:07pm

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I knew if someone came to my support, it'd probably be you, Marina. *hugs*

Ahem...
...How good are you with a sniper rifle?

Not as good as Rob Wilson, I'd bet.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-11 03:23pm

phongn wrote:
The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I knew if someone came to my support, it'd probably be you, Marina. *hugs*

Ahem...
...How good are you with a sniper rifle?
Not as good as Rob Wilson, I'd bet.

Pfft, what would he know?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-02-11 03:25pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Pfft, what would he know?

Not only can he kill you with death from afar via Mr. Sniper Rifle, he can use a MILAN ATGM to kill you too!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-11 03:51pm

phongn wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:Pfft, what would he know?
Not only can he kill you with death from afar via Mr. Sniper Rifle, he can use a MILAN ATGM to kill you too!

MILAN ATGM ROCKS MY PUNY WORLD! Always remember, 7.62mm is the best calibre.

Actually, where is Rob lately? Not seen him about.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-02-11 03:53pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
phongn wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:Pfft, what would he know?
Not only can he kill you with death from afar via Mr. Sniper Rifle, he can use a MILAN ATGM to kill you too!
MILAN ATGM ROCKS MY PUNY WORLD! Always remember, 7.62mm is the best calibre.

Actually, where is Rob lately? Not seen him about.

Getting reaccustomed to military life.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-02-11 03:54pm

NOOOOOOOO!

I miss Rob-Rob.

I hope he's having fun taking out Commie-Nazis and the like.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-02-11 07:09pm

evilcat4000 wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:With Island III colonies, you can hold 3-10 million people in a cylinder large enough for comfortable gravity, and with enough power and food.
.
True but you forget that Mars can hold billions of people.

Yes, assuming you build hundreds of thousands or millions of self-contained, pressurized habitats. And they'll be at the bottom of a gravity well. So what exactly is their advantage over orbiting habitats?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-02-11 07:32pm

phongn wrote: Not as good as Rob Wilson, I'd bet.

Exactly my point.