Space Settlement

On Mar 20, 2007, at 01:41 UTC, tom.bielecki wrote:

> Now, I don't understand why I could not have an open-top design for
> this colony. If I have sufficient radiation shielding around the
> habitat (either coiled electricity flow around the circumference, or
> using faradays cage), and a large enough circumference, then wouldn't
> the centrifugal forces (ya, I said that, haha) hold the atmosphere in
> place?

No. You can see this in any of three ways:

1. Do the math.
2. Read the works of those who have done the math (e.g. O'Neill).
3. Notice that under a full solid 1G acceleration, Earth's atmosphere
extends at least 100 km up, and really more like 400 km (it's just very
thin for the last several hundred km), so you would need walls that
high to keep it from spilling out the top.

Or, best yet, use a combination of all three. :) Your proposed 1.5-km
walls are too short by at least two orders of magnitude.

> Nuclear Fusion (cold) is just around the corner (hopefully), and
> that might bring about vast quantities of electricity.

It seems highly unlikely to me that cold fusion will ever prove to be
real. I'm also quite skeptical about tokamak reactors. I am, however,
cautiously optimistic that Robert Bussard's "polywell" approach to
fusion might pan out in the next decade or two.

Best,
- Joe

Joe Strout -- joe@...