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Now – all power on earth does come from a limitless
endless power source – the sun.So
I was thinking about that, and some ideas I’d first gotten from Issac Asimov.In
“I Robot”, he postulated a deep space power collection center that beamed
energy to earth.
I’ve often thought about that.It
seems like such a good idea, why not do it.So
I was thinking of the setbacks, like a possible beam divergence wiping
out a city or something.But, other
than that, I couldn’t see a reason why not.Now,
I could think of many different ways, fail safe procedures, emergency immediate
shut down in the event of beam divergence, automated immediate shut down
if any single system does not check out at 100%.
So I was thinking, put in to geostationary orbit a
huge solar cell satellite.It would
basically be a huge parabolic mirror that would focus the light onto a
receiver, which would convert the energy to some highly transmittable energy.Perhaps
a microwave or maybe just be a collector that focuses the light wavelengths
themselves into a full spectrum coherent laser beam.Either
way, it could be beamed down to earth into a collector station.The
station would be something like a pit in the ground, with a hole in the
center.The beam would go down the
hole and be split into many smaller beams, each going down a corridor that
spreads radialy out from the central receptor. 
At the end of each corridor would be a device that
converts the energy from the beam into electricity.It
could be something as simple as a cauldron of metal that has an affinity
for absorbing that energy.Probably
a ceramic would work better.Pipes
could be routed through it to pump water quickly through it to absorb the
heat, turn into steam and power turbines.
So as I was thinking about that, I remembered a show I’d seen on some science channel.It showed this guy’s idea of a light ship.It was an inverted teardrop with a mirror on the bottom of the craft.The way the mirror was shaped, a powerful laserdirected at it from below would cause the air in the “cup” to explode, forcing the ship up into the air.I thought it was a neat novelty, but how could that be very useful.There’s lots of wasted energy there, you’d have to convert a lot of fuel to energy to power a laser powerful enough and long enough to put a ship into orbit that way.
But then I combined those 2 ideas together.What if you took the unlimited energy from the sun, which you could afford to to waste, b/c it wasn’t going anywhere.You could beam it down to the ship.The Ship could route the energy to reactors, generators, or maybe straight to thrusters that intake cool air and use the energy from the beam to explode it and force it out the bottom. (See Graphic)
In the upper atmosphere, the air would be too thin
to be a viable fuel source.I thought
of another technology I’d seen displayed on a science program.It
was an electromagnetic field propulsion system with no moving parts.They
had a working model of a “flying saucer” but they said it would never be
useful for travel b/c energy consumption was too high to carry a generator
on board a ship that could produce enough energy to actually levitate the
entire ship.The Prototype ship
was teathered to the ground by a thick power cable.Well,
we could again use the beam from the power satellite to power such an engine.It
could power the ship into orbit and for all docking maneuvers.
We could have many flights per day.No
need for fuel.Never ending supply
of power.We might need 3 of these
power stations in geostationary orbit, so that the ship could be powered
throughout it’s entire orbit around the earth.
These ships could lift large amounts of cargo up to
orbit for the construction of other space stations.But
– once they are in orbit, they would rise above the stations and then would
not be able to draw power from the stations.These
ships would have to have some chemical maneuvering thrusters.But
as soon as they went below the power satellites, they could once again
be powered for decent.
With these ships we could build other
ships to travel to the moon and back.OR
– we could use chemical (or nuclear rockets) to fly to the L5 positions
and build more power stations.The
power stations could power the ships above the orbital power stations.They
could also power ships to and from the moon as well as ships to and from
the L5 positions themselves.We could
have sun powered flight all throughout our planetary system.Other
ships would be needed though, after we built our space stations.
On the subject of space stations, I feel very strongly
about the idea of inflatable stations.We
could construct large fabric shapes, Cylinders, and partially inflate them
with some non-reactive gas.They
would be concentric nested cylinders, so that there was a void between
the 2 cylinders of a couple meters.This
Void could be filled with a dense foam that would solidify as a hard plastic.The
inflated double cylinder could be reinforced with carbon beams and plumbing,
locks, wiring, etc could be embedded in the void before being filled.The
properties of the foam/plastic would need to be such that it was highly
reflective to radiation, that it was a good insulator.That
it was strong, structurally – say strong as concrete.It
should be a binary foam, that when mixed together, it should expand to
many times it’s original volume.This
is the type of foam I mean.Once
the cylinders are filled with the foam, and it hardens, it could be plated
with additional radiation shielding on the outside and flooring on the
inside.I think that these habitats
should be filled with water to a depth of about 2 meters.The
living quarters would float above the water.This
would be beneficial in many ways.
2 meters of water would be an amazing radiation shield.It would guarantee that the weight of the living quarters et al would be evenly distributed across the surface of the cylinder.There would be stress points at the edges of the cylinder, each disk would need to be reinforced at the edge.In fact, there should be a curving slope on the end.
The water would act as a heat sink, food source, weight
distributer, air regenerator, and radiation shield.
Several stations should be built.One
in near Earth orbit, and 1 in the L5 position.
Ships to travel throughout the solar system should
be built as well.They would be used
to mine the asteroids, and to colonize Mars.Beyond
that there are many other places in the solar system to be exploited for
their mineral/material wealth.As
well as the material, there is also the human need to explore and expand
our influence.
Ships to
travel to these points would need a singular new propulsion system.The
System I propose would be either a nuclear fission or nuclear fusion Plasma
Ion Engine.The engine would create
electrical power, and also the energy would be used to vaporize the fuel.The
ideal solution would be using a fusion or fission electrical generator
to power powerful superconducting magnets to accelerate liquid hydrogen
and superheat it to a fusion plasma.Additional
magnets would accelerate this fusing high energy plasma even more down
it’s thrust tube.This ionized,
fusing, high energy plasma would be the best propellant.The
benefit of such a 2 part system is that in the event that fusable liquid
hydrogen were not available, and substance could be vaporized, ionized
and accelerated down the thrust tube for propulsion.Anything
else would be less efficient, but at least it would work.Even
sand could be used.Lasers would
need to be employed to vaporize the fuel and initiate the fusion reaction
(or to just vaporize the non-fusable fuel) for injection into the ionizing
filters and down the thrust tube.
Please see the diagrams
created showing the structural configuration
of such a ship.As you can see from
the diagram, the ship should have 2 thrusters, fore and aft.The
crew area, life support and cargo area would be in a sphere in the center
of the ship.This sphere would be
part of 3 concentric circles and the entire assembly would be designed
in such a manner to keep the “floor” of the crew area always pointed perpendicularly
against the thrust vector.This
would allow for a perceived gravity while the ship was under constant acceleration.It
is the nature of the design of the ship and the specification of the engines
to power it, that the ship would always travel under constant acceleration,
except when in orbit or landed.Powerful
magnets in the thrust collars would direct the thrust vector of the propulsion
units.In conjunction, the forward
and aft thrusting propulsion units would be able to propel and steer the
ship through any vector.The Primary
Hull, the crew sphere, would always have livable gravity, even through
directional vector changes.Provided
that the sphere is moved at the appropriate angle against the thrust.These
ships could easily travel the length and breadth of the solar system.They
are not interstellar craft, and I can’t imagine yet any interstellar craft
designs, but this short document does outline the way our solar system
can be colonized, explored and exploited for all humanity.
Speaking of which, let’s consider what that could
mean.In earth orbit, or at the
L5 position, factories and farms can be built which can take advantage
of microgravity.Buckyballs, special
polymers, carbon composites, nano-machines, and the like.From
the moon, unlimited amounts of silicon, and rare elements.Intersolar
space port.At this point, with
self sustaining space colonies, and a favorable balance of trade – high
tech products, etc for raw materials, the next step could be made.Complete
indipendance.The asteroid belt could
supply all the heavier metals such as copper, lead, nickel, aluminum, iron.Mars
could supply all the carbon and oxygen needed.Vast
oceans of sulfur from Io.Ammonia
from Ganymede.Hydrogen from Jupiter
or Saturn.With the perfection of
a fusion or fission powered by Fusion Plasma Ion engine, we could tow asteroids
to the free L5 position, we could build tankers and cargo vessels and mine
the solar system.Imagine cargo ships
with many holds, each one larger than the biggest tanker plying today’s
terrestrial oceans.They’d never
land on any planet or moon.They’d
just swing around, picking up materials from one part of the solar system
and moving to another.Just like
the exodus from Europe to the new world or the migration of American’s
across the US during the great land rushes or gold rushes, during the pioneering
days of the Wild West, people will follow the first explorers.Miners
and company men first, then the entertainers, recreational vendors, and
with them crime.Following the crime
a police or military force, and with all these people the various support
agencies and facilities – movie theaters, grocery stores, housing, waste
management, etc.In other words –
civilization will naturally spread across the solar system in the time
honored pattern of greed that has driven humanity across the surface of
this globe.
I’m interested in the militia or police force that
would have to be raised up.Some
kind of solar guard, that would swear allegiance to no country, but protect
the liberty of all spacefarers, all merchants, all colonists on any planet
or moon in the solar system.This
force, heck, call it the Solar Guard, protecting all the planets of Sol
from villainy, piracy, and all other nefarious agents.From
here the seeds of a new government could be sown.With
humanity comes the dark side, violence, sloth, greed, theft, corruption
– no one could imagine that raising up from the gravity well of our planetary
cradle would somehow eradicate those baser elements of our nature, but
we could build something even more resilient to corruption than the US
government.The US government has
proven itself to be a viable, working government, that has for over 200
years ensured the greatest good for the greatest number of people and has
dealt almost fairly and honorably with all it’s neighbors on Earth, despite
insidious corruption.The key, if
we look closely at that, must be the lack of permanency of any one individual
or group in any position.The Structure
remains sound, but the people change before anyone can become so entrenched
or powerful that they are irremovable.And
it’s designed to allow those who are corrupt to cash in quick, so there
are no lingering effects.So people
sell out, so they cash out.They
can be as dirty as they come, but who cares, it’s a turnkey system, new
idealistic blood is always infused.Take
that system and build upon it based on secure telecommunications, and A.I.
advisors, have the system be hard coded into the “ROM” of society, and
let the representatives, council members, senators of the new government
process all their legislation through several digital systems of checks
and balances.The Citizens of this
new government, the citizens of the solar system, will all be able to vote
on all issues.These Senators, Council
Members, representatives of whatever stature, will only be agents fulfilling
the wishes on the people themselves directly, but also steering the will
of the people, the great consensus towards virtue and honor.This
is not the place to outline the exact mechanics, but it is crucial to note
that the policy or militia forces raised to protect the first pioneers
will be the bed from which this government springs.So
the inevitable crime and danger that will fill the early years of colonization
of the solar system is a necessary precipitant.
The reason this commentary is included in this paper is that the social trends that will occur as the great expansion erupts upon humanity are as important to keep in mind as the underlying technology that will allow it to happen.
Let’s jump back and revisit the huge solar power satellites.They
can do more than address the nations power supply.They
can be used to control the weather, and save lives by preventing damaging
storms, capping volcanoes, etc.They
can also be used to terraform mars into a habitable planet.Another
question you may have, that I’d like to address is what happens to cities
powered by these stations when the stations are not in the direct line
of site to the sun.MagLev Trains
acting as mechanical batteries.
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