Space Habs

From: Matt Gallimore

> We have some ring motors built up to 35000 hp / 26100 kW. Of course, for a large hab,
> the power may be larger, but spinup can be done very, very slowly over a matter of days,

Or months, even. I think I read somewhere that Island 3 would be spun up over a period of 14 months or something close to that.

> so perhaps really high power / high precision ring motors would not be needed.

"The High Frontier" left me with the impression that the power needs were surprisingly modest. I think it was there I read that the motor to spin up even an Island 3 habitat would only be about the size of a car engine.

> What about the thought that a modified ring motor could be used for power transfer?
> Transfer of power had been one area that I thought might be difficult if the
> radiation sheild mass was rotating at a different direction than the habitat.

Don't really have any thoughts to contribute because I don't think I'd ever considered this to be a large problem. Remember that radiation shields only have to prevent straight-line paths to the habitat.

I think slip-ring conductors might have been the assumption.

Regards,

Mike Combs