Re: lunar centric orbit?

Developing the Interplanetary Frontier

Copyright (c) 2005
WIlliam Mook


I replied to a question - I don't see how that can be construed as
avoiding contributing to the discussion.

Here's more about Lagrange points...

http://www.physics.montana.edu/faculty/cornish/lagrange.html
http://www.freemars.org/l5/aboutl5.html

A space elevator on the moon is an interesting topic. I can wax
poetic about that.

http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/project.archive/1976.skyhook/1982.articles/elevate.800322

A skyhook for earth massing 600,000 tons would be able to lift 100 tons
according to the reports in the post given above.

A space elevator weighing in at 7,500 tons would lift 100 tons - from
three points on Earth once every 61 minutes and place it in a 9,500 km
high orbit 122 minutes later (there are 2 ends to the elevator whipping
around a center at 4,250 km - orbiting the Earth.)

The difference between a skyhook and a space elevator are the skyhook
is stationary relative to the Earth, and the space elevator is in an
orbit around the Earth and spins so the ends come down into the Earth's
upper atmosphere nearly stationary and end up in an orbit 9,500 km
high.

A skyhook for Mars is possible, and weighs less than the one for Earth
due to loer gravity. A skyhook for the moon going to either L1 or L2
for the Earth-Moon system - is also possible. Space elevators are
possible for any planet rotating or not.

http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/project.archive/1976.skyhook/papers/scasci.txt
http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/project.archive/general.articles/1987/skyhook.ltx

Building a skyhook or space elevator system can occur in many ways.
The simplest series of events would be;

1) BUILD SPACESHIPS - Construction of a super Orion spacecraft using
micro-fission nuclear triggers made from old atomic weapons materials
compressed by any of a variety of inertial confinement fusion
techniques - these triggers detonate Lithium-6 Deuteride fusion fuel.
This "Orion Lite" produces 1/1000th the pollution of the older Orion
designs, and a short period of launches - one launch per ship from
Earth - the ship never to return- should be sustainable. After a space
elevator is established, then the Orions can be built on orbit.

What's a super Orion?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion


satellite midrange super
Orion
Ship diameter 17-20 m 40 m 400 m
Ship mass 300 t 1-2000 t 8,000,000 t
Number of bombs 540 1080 1080
bomb mass 0.22 t 0.37-0.75 t 3000 t

Over half the ship mass makes it to orbit. So, we can see that a
600,000 ton Skyhook and a 7,500 space elevator for Earth - as well as
space elevators and skyhooks for the moon and Mars - and space
elevators for all the inner planets - would both be directly and
immediately possible after construction of a single Orion super sized
spacecraft.

So, this would be step 1.

2) BUILD SPACE ELEVATORS - AND DEPLOY THEM - Build super strong tapered
cables of the appropriate length, roll them up into the super sized
Orions and put them in place. Please note that an 8,000,000 ton super
Orion could put up 4,000,000 tons at a pop - so, with three launches of
this sized vehicle we could put up a 12 million ton Skyhook, and that
would be enough to lift 2,000 tons at a time - a fully constructed and
loaded midrange Orion! A 12 million ton Space Elevator would be
capable of lifting 160,000 tons from Earth every 61 minutes. Thus, a 4
million ton payload of a super Orion could be reloaded in about 1 day!

http://www.dynagen.co.za/eugene/hulls/carrier.html

Nuclear aircraft carriers are 90,000 tons each. So, this size space
elevator could lift nearly TWO of them at once! Not too shabby!


3) DEPLOY SPACE ELEVATORS ACROSS SOLAR SYSTEM - Reload the oribting
super Orions with the operating space elevators and deploy space
elevators around the solar system with the super Orions, returning to
Earth orbit after.

4) DEPLOY INTERPLANETARY INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS SOLAR SYSTEM - The
returning Super Orions get reloaded at Earth orbit without touching
down - and shuttle important cargos at high speed from planet to
planet. A ton of payload can support a person for one year in space.
So, with the ability to loft 4,000,000 tons per day - we could in
theory suport over 1.5 billion people in space without building up any
infrastructure in space. Of course we would build up such
infrastructure and live off the land at some point.

Low priority cargo follows the interplanetary superhighway - navigating
the lagrange points around the solar system from space elevator to
space elevator as describe previously.

5) EXPAND SHIPPING CAPACITY Additional Super Orions get assembled on
orbit and loaded with additional space elevators, to provide access to
all major bodies of the solar system - and add to the high speed cargo
ability of the human species.

6) SURVEY SOLAR SYSTEM RESOURCES AND THREATS- A fleet of 1,000
satellite class orions (300 tons each) are deployed to quickly survey
all the small bodies of the solar system - and pick out two categories
(1) - those that are a potential danger to Earth in the distant future,
(2) those that are highly valued for their raw materials

7) REDUCE THREATS CAPTURE RESOURCES - A fleet of 100 medium class Orons
are deployed to orbit to establish the mechanisms to move the dangerous
asteroids away from collision with Earth, and move rich asteroids into
orbits AROUND the Earth.


Here is a summary of the effects of a nuclear explosion and how nuclear
explosions can be used to deflect an asteroid;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_deflection_strategies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_explosion

Using microfission triggers we can build small fusion bomblets that
would be ideal for powering Orion super ships with very little
pollution. This would be a great pastime for the nuclear weapons labs
standing idle around the Earth.


8) DEVELOP RESOURCES - Space factories can then be deployed on these
asteroids using the Space Elevator/Skyhook system of the local planet,
and raw material and finished goods can be returned from the space
factory/space mine - using the Space Elevator/Skyhook system.

9) EXPAND RESOURCE CAPACITY - Build up industrial capacity at key
points in the system - space colonies as well as space farms and space
factories - built from asteroidal resources - to add highly finished
products to the mix - i.e. consumer goods, foods, furnishings, woods,
leathers, clothing, etc. and building complex structures in space -
i.e. powersats, comsats, navsats, solar laser sats, etc.

NEXT STEPS AND KEY ISSUES AND MOTIVATIONS

Establishing a 12 million ton space elevator on orbit with the launch
of 3 super Orions - 8 million tons each - would be the only launch of
nuclear orions from Earth. This would release 1/300th of the
radioactive materials released from an old style above ground atom bomb
test of the 1950s. Humanity has conducted around 2,000 such tests to
date -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_testing

So, releasing 1/300th of 1 test to deploy something like a 12 million
ton space elevator - not to mention 3 super sized Orion spacecraft -
and rid the world of all its nuclear material (shuttled up the space
elevator to power the super Orions) - and keep all the world's
weaponeers busy! - seems like a good deal to me.

All later Orions would be brought up to orbit piecemeal, and launched
from orbit with zero pollution of Earth.

The cost? This can be yours all for about $3 trillion spent over 12
years. That's $250 billion per year - about 1/4 the size of the global
military budget - and about 16 times NASA's current budget

http://www.nasa.gov/about/budget/
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp

We could deploy the system described here - and have cities spread
across the solar system and the basis for a dramatic expansion of
business opportunities across the solar system - vastly enriching life
on Earth and wherever it travels from here.

Break even is expected to cost some $60 trillion additional cost - this
borne by risk takers over a 30 year period - $2 trillion is 5% of
today's global economy - which is the capital formation rate in a well
run capitalist economy. Its about 1/4 the size of the loss the stock
markets suffered in 1999 when the technology bubble burst... With tax
incentives, and low taxes generally - and a rising economic output - of
say 7% globally per year - this $60 trillion to break-even could occur
in as little as 15 years - thus, within 27 years of today we could have
a space based economy and capability of unbelievable proportions. If
we had the will to do it.

Why should we do all this today?

1) A SAFER WORLD - Provides a basis for rounding up all loose nukes
and collecting under a single international leadership council the
nuclear weapons production assets of the planet - converting the
materials to Orion Lite bomblets; - thus reducing the threat from loose
nukes and nuclear weapons in general;

2) A KINDER WORLD - Provides a means to INSPIRE cooperation - rather
than force cooperation (which won't happen) Cooperation is inspired by
strong win-win scenarios, both in business and politics, and military
advantage - as well as tapping into the positive vision and imagingings
nearly everyone has regarding new frontiers, new opportunities, and a
better future.

3) WIN WAR ON TERROR - Provides a unified vision of a future that is
better for everyone, and provides a strong counterpoint to the vision
of the future put out by anti-western muslim clerics. To end the war
on terror we must capture the hearts and minds of the children of the
muslim world and tie them to a vision of the future that is
simultaneously better than their life today and global in its outlook -
this program provides all these factors.

4) ENRICHES EVERYONE IN A FUNDAMENTAL WAY - Expands the material and
energy resources (assuming powersats are included in the mix) of
humanity while expanding the range of the human species. The entire
human race can not only sustain wealth that is some 100x greater than
today - $4,000 trillion in 2073 vs $40 trillion today - assuming a
steady 7% annual growth rate. Only the first 28 years of this 68 year
period of transition would require net investments of today's output.

5) ENDS SPIRALING POPULATION - When GDP/capita is below $10,000 per
person per year rising living standards increase rates of population
growth. When GDP/capita is above $10,000 per person per year rising
living standards DECREASE rates of population growth. This is why
places with high GDP, places like Japan, Europe, US, Canada, import
laborers from around the world. Clearly, with a population fo 7.5
billion and a global product of $40 trillion per year, the AVERAGE
INCOME PER CAPITA is $5,400 per year. So, overall our population is
rising at 2% per year. With growth at 7% per year we can see a net per
capita rise of about 5% per year - accelerating as we pass through
$10,000 per capita. - which would occur in 10 years under this scenario
- stopping at 9.2 billion people - then a gradual decline - assuming no
real breakthroughs in longevity research over this period. Per capita
income globally is likely to be at European levels by the time economic
break even is achieved - in 2023 - at that point average income will
continue to accelerate to achieve a global average of $550,000 per
person by 2073... of course there is likely to be disparities of
income across the globe. The poorest 1/10th is likely to be around
$55,000 per person per year - and the richest 1/10th is lkely to be
around $5,500,000 per person per year. Nearly 2/3 of the entire globe
- around 6 billion assuming best guess estimates of longevity research
efficiency is correct -will routinely travel throughout the solar
system.

William Mook

Brad Guth wrote:
> >William Mook; Lagrange points operate between Earth and Sun
> >as well... which can be put to good use.
> That's very true, except that they're not worth LSE or any other SE
> squat.
>
> Since we still haven't a viable fly-by-rocket lander, plus there are so
> many other perfectly valid reasons, whereas such there's no viable
> alternative but for establishing and using a lunar space elevator.
>
> Thanks for all these old but terrific links. May I further ask;
> http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~shane/papers/lo_ross_2001.pdf
> http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/ob_techorbit1.html
> http://plus.maths.org/issue36/features/dartnell/
> http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/ob_techorbit.html
> Why are you avoiding any personal contributions as to the LL-1/ME-L1
> zone that's offering us such an absolute sweet-spot although
> interactive zone for the LSE-CM/ISS to coexist within?
>
> You seem to be so all-knowing, in that I can't imagine a wizard like
> yourself not knowing a thing or two as to various ways of establishing
> and utilizing the LL-1/ME-L1 and of the LSE-CM/ISS.
>
> Brad Guth

.

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