Interstellar Generation Ship
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| Date |
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5.2.2002 |
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| Submitted by |
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Kevin McCarthy |
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| Title |
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Interstellar Generation Ship |
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| Source |
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Benford, Gregory and David Brin. ‘Heart of the Comet’, Bantam Books, Toronto (1986) |
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| Context |
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A science/resource mission tums into an interstellar generation ship |
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| Description |
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The novel begins with a plan to capture a comet (Halley's in this case) and not only study it in extreme detail throughout its 70 year joumey, but to capture it and push it into a more convenient orbit for mining the water and other resources. Several shiploads of equipment are sent to the ship with minimal personel aboard. Other ships are sent with minimal personal, but hundreds more in cold sleep (in this case bringing the body temp to near zero), a final ship, much later, is sent with the majority of the set-up crew. The mission uses medium intensity microwaves for boring tunnels and chambers in the ice. Meter thick insulation is used in all of the habitable areas. Gases generated within the comet are piped into refineries brought for the purpose of extracting water, minerals, and other useful resources from the gases and mining remains. The ships that originally brought them to the comet were used for several purposes. The engines were removed and placed to control the comet' spin. Several greenhouse domes were erected (each 40 meters in diameter). Reflector/concentrators ensured that enough light reached the planets while far from the sun. The ships are also used as 'hibemation systems' and are useful for their computer support. Giant linear accelerators were built on the comet to act as pellet engine. These engines accelerated small amounts of the comet to high-speed (3% C in the book). This was used to help the comet alter its trajectory. 1 suspect that the waste gases could also have been used to effect a change in the orbit. There is a long period of time to actually change the orbit. The crew of the 'ship' used robot miners, to dig out iron and other heavy metals, which were then fired from the 57 pellet 'engines'. One ten-nüllionth of the comet would be used as fuel in this way. The end of the book shows several possible uses for the comet. It could be slammed into or near a planet to begin or continue a terraforming process (bring water to Mars, remove some of the atmosphere from Venus). It could be used a permanent (albeit slow) solar system transportation unit with it's orbit changed so that it nears Earth (depending on volatility), Mars, Jupiter, etc. on each orbit. Another use is that of a gencration ship to another system. The larger comets would have plenty of room for people and the influx of fresh materials that asteroids do not have or have in too small quantities (water, carbons, etc.). |
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| Comments |
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While not strictly a book about extraterrestrial colonization, this does offer some unique ideas that I had not discovered before. Building a starship by shipping raw material from Earth would be almost impossible, but if the ship is already there and already moving quickly, then it becomes more possible. Comet mining would be easier than asteroid mining without sincere efforts being made in the field of zero G mining and smelting. |
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| Feasibility |
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Requires New Technology |
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| Keywords |
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extraterrestrial colonization , interstellar generation ship |
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| Images |
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Artist Name
Michael Boehme
Technique
Acrylic on Board
Title
Ark in Space
Description
In a far future mankind will have arks with nature and all equipment to survive in space and fly to other stars.
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