GeSp4405

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Number: 4405 Name: 6TOGO

Address: J.E.D.CLINE1 Date: 940409

Approximate # of bytes: 20305

Number of Accesses: 12 Library: 3

Description:

There is a reason and a means to colonize space in ou time.

From before the Apollo project to a proposed multi-billion

person space habitat in the Clark Belt, this file describes

a reason and a means to get there from here, largely in

our time. The choice is our responsibility.

Keywords:

KESTS,habitat,space,bridge,energy,re4source,Moon,ecosystem,transportatio

---------------------------------

. 6TOGO

. By J. E. D. Cline

. April 9, 1994 Canoga Park, CA

The promise of the exploration of space is that of the adventure of

exploration of unknown places, the income of material resources needed

by civilization, the discard of toxic radioactive wastes into the sun,

the receipt of energy to power civilization's electrical power grids

without pollution or waste of precious petrochemical feedstocks, the

planting of separate niches for life, and that of the relief of the

burden of mankind's civilization upon Mother earth's ecosystem.

Many of these are survival issues, but none of them as

attention-getting as the survival issues when a then-hostile nation

put nuclear missles on neighboring Cuba's soil. Then we nervously

looked at the Moon, along with the same hostile nation's increasing

space capability, and, putting the two together, feared the moon might

be used as another launch platform for nuclear missles at us. The

PARADE Sunday newspaper supplement's cover pictured such a missle

site, complete with domed personnel quarters, clearly impressing the

majority of us. We initiated the Apollo space program to put our

people on the Moon.

However, after some spetacular successes in landing our men on the

moon's surface, we realized that the rival nation was not also doing

so, along with the feared missles like in Cuba. So the last several

Apollo launches were scrapped, and the newspapers reported the only

thing of interest found on the moon was the age of its rocks, and so

the general public lost interest in the Moon...its threat now removed.

The Apollo program had been proclaimed a peaceful scientific effort,

even stating on the first spacecraft lander a plaque that said we came

in peace for all mankind. So much data actually was obtained which yet

reposes as knowledge for using the moon's resources to expand

civilization beyond the earth surface ecosystem. We found that there

is much oxygen, aluminum, iron, titanium, silicon and other raw

materials there, and we found we can live and do useful work there,

and make explorations on the surface of the moon, given adequate

preparation for the trip.

The Moon itself was not thought to be a satisfactory place to build

new cities, because it has a long 14 day-long period of darkness in

which solar power would be unavailable, and that the gravity was fixed

at 1/6 of earth's gravity, not enough to sustain our earthly bodies'

strength. Also, any finished products made there for use on the Earth

surface, would have to be lifted out of the Moon's gravitational well

before decending to earth surface, taking a lot of energy, especially

for the mammoth proposed Solar Power Satellites.

So more satisfactory sites for the envisioned industrial colonies were

found at L4 and L5, located the same distance from the Earth as is the

Moon, yet without the moon's gravitational well to contend with. Towns

built there could spin like a wheel, inside of which would be the same

effective force as earth's gravity, enabling conventional life

activities, such as bathing and going to the toilet, very necessary

frequent activities which are very difficult in free-fall without

gravity to move things downward. With a means of getting the raw

material from the Moon's surface over to the industrial towns at L4

and L5, they could build the massive multigigawatt power stations for

providing electricity to the many civilizations on earth surface.

These power plants would need to be moved to the unique orbit around

Earth that is synchronized with the rotation of the earth, so that

objects placed in it appear to hang motionless over the Earth's

equator without effort. Proposed by Arthur Clark, communication

satellites have inhabitated this GEO orbit for decades already.

Even this Geosynchrnous Earth Orbit itself, also known as the Clark

Belt, could be a site for industrial towns, given adequate

transportation facilities for materials and personel. GEO is a lot

closer to Earth tnan is the Moon, L4 or L5. Yet at this time it is an

extreme effort to place even communication satellites there; how could

we possibly build towns and cities there? At a cost of $1000 a pound

delivered there, it would cost $150,000 to put an average weight

person there, not to mention the cost of taking his/her luggage along,

and building a home there.

In 1983 the "L5 NEWS" published an outline of an outrageous

transportation concept, called "The Texas and Universe Railroad", by

Earle Smith. Although there were many holes in the concept as

presented there, it would build an exotic form of a railway that

circulates quasi-elliptically between Earth surface and GEO. Since

there are no known materials strong enough to build such a bridge

extending 22,300 miles up, the tracks for the railway would be built

on a bridge structure supported by the stored high speed kinetic

energy of mass circulating within it, analogous to a combination of a

high-shooting water fountain and a circulating pulley belt, only using

a belt made of iron links in this form. Iron could be pushed and

pulled by appropriately pulsed magnetic fields, thus accellerating and

guiding the iron belt in its path; the belt in turn supported a

electrically powered train rail structure.

The concept has continued to evolve enormously, primarily as described

in KESTS-related files here on the GEnie network. With the payload

capacity of such electrically powered transportation systems, the

first of the 10,000-person-each industrial towns in GEO could then be

built entirely from materials imported from the earthsurface. With

those industrial towns already 22,300 miles up in space, the task of

setting up raw material delivery systems on the Moon or maneuvering a

nearby asteroid to there for processing into the structural components

of more similar towns in GEO.

The real possibility for truely massive space colonization thus opens

up, without need for any new discoveries in fundamental science. Just

a lot of R & D in a new field, that of "kinetically supported

structures", the field of the electromagnetic coupling of masses

traveling at fast orbital velocities in vacuum along channels within a

structure, so as to exchange energy needed to support the weight of

the structure in a gravitational field, and couple energy to move

payload vehicles along the surface of the outside of the vacuum stream

channels.

Some distantly related R & D has already been done, that

of O'Neill's electromagnetic mass driver technology. Particle

accellerators also use some of the general principles of

electromagnetically manipulating fast masses. The need to create

transportation systems adequately free of the low frequency pulsing

magnetic fields which are damaging to the human biosystem, linked to

some forms of cancer such as leukemia, is also pointed out.

With the real possibility for space colonization within a mere decade

or two, given an adequate active enthusiasm by humanity for the

project, it is not necessarily true that there is no hope that the

average person living in the present time will be able to live in a

comfortable space colony. (However, that enthusiasm is conspicuously

missing at the present time, note.)

And it is not necessarily so that massive space colonization in our

time cannot remove the population/resource pressure on the Earth

surface ecosystem in time to provide ecological balance and genetic

diversity. Thus the massive process of cutting back the human

population, already currently in process using the HIV disease and

another subtle process, is not necessarily needed anymore to protect

the Earth's ecosystem from destructive imbalance by an expanding human

civilization population.

. A VERY WIDE EMIGRATION PATH

Transportation is one of the key items for these possibilities. There

must be ways to transport people and materials adequate to the task.

Transportation of hundreds of billions of people and trillions of

pounds of materials. Transportation sufficiently economical, rapid and

safe. A task as challenging as the construction of the pyramids, the

building of the Panama canal, and the Apollo project were challenging

in their time.

Building and operating the proposed kinetic structure transportation

bridges from Earth surface to space, particularly to the orbit which

is stationary relative to the equator, known as the Clark Belt or GEO,

is considered possible. End points of such a bridge would be

stationary relative to each other. Step off of the bridge at the top

terminal onto appearantly stationary flooring. The floor of a building

that could be very, very big.

This is an unusual way to support the structure of bridges. Instead

of building with tensile and compressive members, which have limits in

their strength of materials and thus limits to their size, consider

the possibility of using stored energy within the bridge structure to

support it.

Consider the immense kinetic energy of a massive pair of orbital

velocity mass streams, flowing in vacuum, within channels along the

length of such a bridge structure. The kinetic energy of those mass

streams are electromechanically coupled to the structure of the

bridge, providing support for the bridge structure and its live loads,

and supplying energy to move those live loads along its length from

the Earth's surface up to the Clark Belt and back down to the Earth's

surface, in a parallel pair of endless loops. Most of the kinetic

energy would stay in the loops instead of being used each time around

the loop.

Such a transportation system would use electrical energy instead of

chemical energy.

An early form of a proposed kinetic energy supported Earth to space

structure, proposed by Rod Hyde, would have lifted the mass of every

human being on this planet into near space using only the electrical

power equal to that consumed by the city of Los Angeles over a period

of two weeks. This suggested a vertical tower structure toward low

earth orbit altitudes, instead of the later proposed advanced type

which has a pair of contra-rotating loops which go entirely around the

Earth, both touching ground and touching the geostationary Clark Belt

at its highest point.

WHAT IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO...

What if it were possible in the long term to support such bridges

from the electricity generated by solar satellite power technology?

What if it were possible to build a 10,000-person condo-like city in

this Clark Belt, from materials brought up from Earth surface on such

a stored-energy bridge?

What if it were possible to build one and a half million of these

1,000-person condomium cities around the Earth in the Clark belt,

mostly made of materials brought from the Moon?

What if this were just the beginning of a spacious city around the

Earth above the equator; an Earth restored to a garden planet of the

vast potential of great harmonious genetic diversity?

. SO IT IS THUSLY POSSIBLE, AND SO: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Is lethargy our only enemy, the only thing blocking humanity from

being born into the spatial resources around the planet, born to be a

new partner for Mother Earth?

What is the problem? It is not necessarily so that space colonization

cannot solve the population resource pressures in our time. Only couch

potato lethargy and selfish special interest groups stand in the way.

Bring your creative imagination online, power up your computer; start

bending metal, get on the train going up. Hey, let's build and let's

go for the great life in the Big Clark Belt City built as earth-like

as we want it!

. ---------------------------------------- .

. CAN WE GET THERE FROM HERE?

. ******* YES! *******

Parts of the path to space are made already. We have the space shuttle

in current routine operation from ground to low earth orbit and back.

We have the years-orbiting Soyuz space station example. We have the

Apollo footprints on the Moon. We have personally seen and touched

rocks brought back from the Moon. We have precision robot spacecraft

checking out the Moon again, asteroids and our other planets. We know

we can live out there, and out there are energy and materials

resources abundantly awaiting life!

. FROM NOW TO THERE

A progression from the present-day space scenario in which the Space

Shuttle routinely is used to move small amounts of people and goods

back and forth between Earth surface and low earth orbit, might be:

1. Humanity decides to actively move the majority of people to

near-earth space, out of the direct path of the earth's fragile

ecosystem, instead of continuing down the present course of events of

depopulation of the planet through fatal disease and artificially

induced incompetance. Instead, the Clarke Belt City is chosen as a way

to preserve an expanding human civilization population in nearly

earthlike artificially constructed space habitat environments, while

also preserving and healing the Earth surface ecosystem.

1a Pre-assembled sections of a toroidal space station design are put

into low earth orbit by the creation of a flyback engine/control type

wet launch module vehicle, largely using the existing proven Space

Shuttle technology. The wheel-shaped space habitat is first built on

the ground in the form of pre-fitted modules linked in a circle. The

design of each module is for dual use, the other use is for being the

fuel tank and payload of an unmanned engine & control module which

launches them into low earth orbit. The unmanned engine/control

module flies back to the launch site for the next module's launch,

much as the present space shuttle returns to the Earth's surface.

(Refer to Genie Spaceport library files "Centristation III" and #2931

"Centristation IV".)

1b Use these unmanned wet-launched prefitted modules to build

artificial gravity space stations made of circles of these linked

modules to prove out the hypothesis that earth surface gravity and

atmospheric pressure in a rotating toroid can provide functional

stability in a group living situation which includes other life

forms in a harmonious synthesis. (Centristation III & IV)

1c The bulk of the physical structure to be built in the Clark Belt

around the Earth would need to be built out of space resources. The

Moon is handy and has plentiful resources of such materials as

aluminum and titanium. This material needs to be moved from the Moon's

surface to the vicinity of the Clark Belt efficiently and with a

minimum of pre-industrialization of the Moon. Investigate forms of

materials-pumps utilizing the greater depth of potential energy of the

adjacent earth's gravity well, to lift materials up out of the Moon's

gravity well. One way to do this is to store the energy as angular

momentum: an Earth-Moon two-body orbiting Skyhook one-direction

materials pump, which picks up packaged payloads from the far side of

the Moon on a tether, payload and spacecraft tethered whirling

together around their common center-of-gravity as they continue around

the Moon and into Earth's gravity well, the spacecraft regaining its

energy through appropriately timed release of the payload from a

lengthened tether deep into Earth's gravity well. Hans Moravec created

the original spinning skyhook concept. (Refer to #475 "Space

Inspiration" and #927 "Longtrans 2" files.)

1d Creation of stored-energy bridges on Earth surface to develop the

technology into a high reliability system, while also providing new

modes of long range transportation of large amounts of fuels, water

and other resources. Development of emplacement techniques. Keith

Loftstrom conceptualized related structures of "launch loops." (refer

to files #475 "Space Inspiration" and #2466 "Kinetic Structures III")

1e Fabrication of the first stored energy bridges to the Clark Belt

create the links to the new land: the Clark Belt. Earle Smith

conceptualized a form of kinetic-energy supported bridge from Earth

surface to the Clark Belt. (Files #475, 747 and 2466 are are some of

those on the subject.)

1f First Clark Belt "Island One" type 10,000-person space settlement

built from Earth materials, brought up on a stored-energy bridge. This

develops the functional structural design with components built

comparatively easily on the Earth's surface. Outfitting the interior

of the space settlement to include as many earth-normal features as

possible. Tests out agricultural systems, condominium homes on the

interior slopes, and creative stable harmonious social system...and

millions of the other necessary things needing to be tested out there

too. (This general type structure can be found in detail in NASA

SP-413 "Space Settlements: A Design Study", and also in "The High

Frontier" by Gerard K. O'Neill. See also GEnie files such as #747 Hwy

to Earth GEO Ring")

1g Long term electrical power to support the kinetic energy bridges

needs to come from space resources instead of relying on Earth

resources, so development of solar power electromechanical thrusters

supporting these bridges needs to be done. They would use solar energy

converted into electrical energy to accelerate the downward direction

of the kinetic mass stream so as to replenish the energy consumed by

the support of the bridge structure and for moving payloads along it.

The thrust of that acceleration would be against the weight of the

power converter, being located along the bridge at points below

synchronous orbit. (Refer to related information on Solar Power

Satellites, as well as files like #2466.)

1h Lunar industrialization, with a stored energy bridge transportation

system to replace the two-body orbiting Skyhook.

1i Massive transportation of lunar materials to the Clark Belt using

lunar stored kinetic energy bridges for the major part of the trip.

1j Robotic construction of more Island One space settlements in GEO,

the Clark Belt. These 10,000-person-each wheel-like space settlements

would be linked together like the chairs on a ferris wheel, eventually

all the way around the planet in the Clark Belt. Robotic construction

builds the repetitive toroidal shell structures, then would be spun up

to earth normal interior gravity, pressurized from Earth atmosphere

components, then the interior outfitted in the way things are built on

earth surface by people and machines.

1k Great living for humanity in the Earth-surface-like Clark Belt

City! It is essential that the functionality and appearance of the

interior of these space settlements resemble normal Earth environments

as much as possible, not only to maintain our long term humanity

there, but also to enable ecological balance with the other imported

diverse current Earth surface ecosystem balancing lifeforms, our

biological partners in space as well as on land.

1l Restoration of Earth surface ecological balance by City dwellers

would become vacation volunteer activity, a periodic pilgramage back

to Earth surface to heal the wounds we have inadvertently already

given to Mother Earth.

1m Humanity looks inward...and outward. Peaceful co-existence and

capacity for creative solutions to the endless new requirements as the

City ecosystem evolves and harmonizes, will require the dwellers to

understand themselves and their relationships with that within which

they live. The inherent deep subconscious urges toward tribalistic

territoriality and win-lose upsmanship need to be understood and

updated by each City dweller to avoid default disintegration processes

of the mammalian sub-mind. Thus prepared, they can then harmoniously

look outward toward the great resources of our solar system, which yet

await life.

2a ...!

Constructive comments can be sent directly to J.E.D.CLINE1 on GEnie.

. Some GEnie Spaceport Library References:

475 Space Inspiration

1179 Original Mooncable

2931 Centristation IV

927 Longtrans2

2466 Kinetic Structures III

747 Hwy to Earth GEO Ring

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