Re: We can meet all our needs through space development

On Jan 28, 7:28 pm, BradGuth <bradg...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So, even lord/wizard Mook is deathly afraid of utilizing the Earth/
Moon L1.

Gee whiz, what another surprise that such an all knowing clown of a
pretend atheist like William Mook can't afford to even consider Clarke
Station, much less that of my LSE-CM/ISS.

What are you so deathly afraid of, Mook. (it must be the truth that
you're afraid of)
- Brad Guth

On Jan 28, 3:42 pm, Willie.Moo...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:



On Jan 28, 4:12 pm, Einar <eina...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Jan 28, 3:24 pm, Willie.Moo...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

We can meet all our needs through space development.

Here is the program I propose;

  (1)  Develop a stretched External Tank massing 1,000 metric tons,
          with a 120 metric ton structural fraction
          propelled by an annular aerospike nozzle
          using 3 RS-68 pumpsets
          generating 1,400 metric tons of thrust at lift off
          with a specific impulse of 430 seconds

   (2) Build 30 of these elements and operate them up to 7 at a time
        to launch 535 metric tons into Earth orbit every 15 days

   (3) Build 660 satellites, each 10 to 20 tons mass, and launch them
        over an 18 month period to create a global wireless
communications
        capability that generates $83 billion per year in revenue

   (4) Adapt the satellite launcher to launch;
         manned payloads, space tourism, lunar hotel
         large mars direct type vehicles for
               mars development and exploration
               lunar development and exploration
         power satellites

    (5) use power satellites to create abundant hydrogen fuel to
displace
         crude oil coal and natural gas and support expanded industry
         this increases revenue stream from space to over $4 trillion
         per year.

    (6) develop telepresence and telerobotics capabilities as well as
         a host of related business, financial and banking services
over
         the wireless broadband created in step 3.

     (7) use power satellite capacity to create a beam powered
propulsion
         unit.  Adapt the reusable flight elements with improved
engine,
         increase launch rate and capacity.

     (8) adapt power satellites to operate close to solar surface and
beam
          energy at far higher levels to any point of use in the solar
system

     (9)  use improved beam handling to beam energy directly to users
           displacing in most instances the use of hydrogen/oxygen

    (10) capture asteroids using improved propulsion systems,
           develop those asteroids into industrial feestocks using
            telerobotic labor and solar power - disperse the finished
            goods and products to users by GPS guided aeroshells
            launched from the space facility by rail gun, and landed
            by MEMS based braking rockets

     (11) build large pressure vessels at low cost on Earth orbit to
            create farms and industrial forests at less cost and
greater
            yields than possible on Earth.  Add food and fiber to the
             mix of low cost products freely available across Earth at
            low market rates.

      (12) MEMs based propulsive skins, powered by high intensity
             infrared lasers, available at low cost make reliable,
safe
              travel to orbit and anywhere on Earth common reality
               for everyone.  This combined with low cost pressure
              vessels equipped with their own biosphere - cause the
              first mass exodus off world.

This can all be achieved within the next 50 years.

As an example of what might be possible lets look at the food
situation;

Here is what the USDA says the Average American eats per capita;

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FoodConsumption/spreadsheets/foodloss/se....

6.5 ounces of meat eggs and nuts a day
1.8 cups Dairy
0.7 cups Fruit
7.5 cups vegetables
5.3 ounces Flour, cereal
71.6 grams added fats
25.1 teaspoons added sugar

Converting each ounce to 28.35 grams, and
    1 cup to 8 ounces.
    1 teaspoon of sugar to 4.2 grams

   184.3 grams meat/eggs/nuts
   408.3 grams dairy
   158.8 grams fruit
1,701.0 grams vegetables
   150.3 grams flour, cereals
   105.5 grams
 2,708.2 grams per day total

Assuming a 20% structural/propellant fraction this means that a daily
supply of food could be delivered from orbit for every person

      2.8 kg - food
      0.6 kg - structure/propellant

This would be contained in a 3 liter volume.  Reducing this to '3-
squares a day' we have a module with a total volume of 1 liter per
meal, containing up to 1 kg, with a 50 gram shell, 20 grams of MEMs
engines and active componetns (1000:1 thrust to weight on these tiny
tiny engines) and 30 grams of propellant for braking from high
subsonic speeds - soft landing the payload precisely - and another 100
grams for spares/cooking in place.  The thermal protection system
permits combined with pressure sealed operation allows the 1 liter
container to double as a cooking element.

With 7 billion people - we have 21 billion continers dispatched per
day from orbit.  in response to a satellite telephone call.  From
several sun synch polar orbits, a demand for food can be resolved in 5
minutes or less - following a satellite phone call, which also
provides precise GPS coordinates for delivery.  It takes about 1 km/
sec delta vee from 700 km sun synch orbit to deorbit a payload quickly
and reliably.  This is imparted by solar powered rail gun.

In large quantities - with highly automated production and low labor
rates - the materials -whether organic or technical - may cost as
little as $0.40 per kg to produce and delivery.  So meals cost as
little as $0.48 each without subsidy.  Of course people pay far more
than that for meals in most areas.  The US spends something like $1.5
trillion per year on food - about 1/3 of what the entire planet
spends.  $4.5 trillion per year spent on food translates to $0.59 per
meal.and $843 billion per year profit from food sales.

It takes about 1/2 acre of farmland to support the average American
consumer.  Enclosed agriculture such as that provided by greenhouse
cultivation increases yeilds 5x.  Large pressure vessels placed on
orbit can control all factors including the weather and gravityas well
as atmospheric composition - to increase yields beyond this level.
So, 10 people per acre translates to  2,469 per square kilometer of
pressure vessel growth area.  Vertical farming methods with lighting
control, increases it beyond that by having vertical growth areas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroponicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.......

An O'Neill style pressure vessel was surounded by dozens of
agricultural modules.  A design for a small agricultural unit that is
1 km in diameter and 0.75 km tall, has a pseudo gravity area of 2.35
sq km.  Installed in the center of each rotating cylinder is a conical
thin film mirror that illuminates the gravity area.  The cylinder wall
area is related to the cone base area.

The area illuminated is divided into 3 zones around the cylinder wall
- the plants are grown aeroponically - and each plant grouping is
illuminated according to a cosine curve - which peaks at 73% space
levels of illumination (that balance is used to power solar panels on
board)  which is distributed as a 3 phase half wave system.  Total
power stays the same, even while the power on each phase rises from
zero to full illumination over 6 hours and falls to zero 6 hours after
- and is dark 12 hours. - with unused light being used to charge up
energy systems on board the station.

Each station provides food for 10,000 people.  Each station is crewed
by 50 farming droids - manned by 150 telerobotic workers.

The microgravity portion at the center of the rotating cylinder -
behind the conical reflector illuminating the gravity portions at the
periphery - process the foods into meals - ready to be shot by rail
gun out of the vehicle to Earth below.  30,000 meals per day are
prepared in this way.  Another 150 droids with another 450 robot
drivers maintain this service.

So, each station employs 600 people on a continuous basis, and
provides meals for 10,000.

The station houses surplus materials left over from the asteroidal
processing that created the station.  This material provides the
consumable feedstock needed to supply the station as it ships 36 tons
of product per day to Earth.  A 150 meter diameter sphere contains
mostly water, and some smaller amounts of other materials needed to
supply the station with these consumables.and spares for a period of
134 years.  As stated this is mostly water, but also includes 1.47
billion 1 liter meal conainers - fabricated along with the station.

There are 6.7 billion people on Earth at present.  So, at 10,000 per
station, this implies a total number of stations 670,000 to supply all
the food needs of humanity with 40 million workers.

http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/75SummerStudy....

1000 small bodies each approximately 2 km in

...

read more »- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

And a Clarke station, or Clarke orbit as you call it, s a station in
what is today called a Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit - GEO. I
mentioned GEO several times - this IS the Clarke orbit. The satellite
remains stationary above the Earth. So, operating in that orbit
provides a means to beam energy from an unmoving point in the sky to
placed on Earth.

Funny you don't know that.

2,000 satellites operate in GEO with a fully populated system. Each
powersat is 7 km in diameter and covers 38.4 sq km of area. Each is
separated from the otehrs by 136 km.

Each disk intercepts 52.6 GW of solar energy. This is concentrated to
a multi-spectral PV disk 100 meters across. This Ge/GaAs/InPh disk
generates 28.9 GW of DC electrical power. This disk operates a free-
electron laser that generates 23.1 GW of laser energy at 1,000 nm
wavelength. This is beamed to terrestrial solar panels across the
visible surface of the Earth which use silicon. The total are of
panels is 64 sq km.

The solar satellites costs $4.6 billion each to build and place on
orbit. They all operate 8766 hours per year. The cost of energy is
1/5 cent per kWh. . Hydrogen costs drop using these systems from $270
per metric ton delivered to less than $120 per metric ton delivered -
about $0.12 per gallon gasoline equivalent..

All from GEO - or Clarke orbits.

L1 and L2 are interesting points to place a similar power satellite
arrays above the moon - if the moon were in need of development. Food
and other materials for lunar settlers may be processed conveniently
there.

Several people have examined this.

http://www.geir.org/projects/uxp/3Section3.html
http://exploration.nasa.gov/documents/reports/cer_midterm/Boeing.pdf

Since they have done a far better job of this than I can on usenet, I
refer them to you. I prefer to give examples beyond those already
well worked out.

Obviously, since I'm talking about meeting the practical needs of
humanity today, we don't NEED stations at L1 and L2 to supply non-
existent lunar populations.

Should such populations arise, they will deploy the needed
infrastructure to support themselves.

Do we need to develop the moon before the asteroids? No. That
imposes a false choice and forces us to ask, why must we do the moon
before the asteroids? There is credible reason to think we should do
asteroids before the moon.

The moon lacks volatiles needed for agriculture and human habitation -
while the asteroid belt has them in plenty - as well as the rings of
Saturn.

The moon is at the bottom of a gravity well and the resources it has
is locked below the surface and must be found and brought out.
Asteroids are freely moved and freely examined at a distance. Once
identified, very little effort is needed to retrieve them.

Even so, the moon need not be ignored. It may well be of limited
utility for the sort of program I'm talking about. For this reason it
will likely be developed along with Mars and the asteroids all at the
same time.

In that case, how the moon will be retrieved has been well worked out
by O'Neill and NASA. Solar, nuclear, or laser powered rail guns or
gas guns on the lunar surface will be used to project materials from
the lunar surface into useful orbits around the moon, Earth, and
points beyond.

To the extent the moon's resources can contribute then luna will be
developed. This has been covered in some detail by O'Neill - in the
URL I gave previously. Which includes use of L5 - from which the L5
society gets their name.

In that instance, it may be possible that L1 and L2 will be developed
along the same lines as the terminator orbit I've described here.
However the transit times are in hours - not minutes - which is better
than days going the other way back to Earth. So, Earth due to its
higher gravity will have faster response times to satellite calls for
meals. You fish and chips - cooked in transit, with beer - chilled by
liquid hydrogen - will arrive in minutes on Earth - hours on the moon.

.