HABITATS CAN MIGRATE
| VOLUME 0: ELEVATIONAL |
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| VOLUME I: ASTEROIDAL |
| VOLUME II: INTERPLANETARY |
| VOLUME III: INTERSTELLAR |
Habitat's immediate future will be as Orbiters and Cyclers, non-propulsive vehicles which leverage orbital mechanics as described in previous chapters. However, subsequent volumes describe habitats as Migrators to nearby planets and far away stars. constant propulsion can make interplanetary migrations very quick; humanity's ever improving technology will increase Space Tug's capability with greater acceleration and quicker travel times.
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| Near Mars Scenario. Space Tug pushes habitat to Mars during closest separation between Earth and Mars, 0.5 AU. First of 4 Phases. At 1% G-force, tug accelerates for 10 days to reach .25 AU, mid-distance of this voyage. |
2nd Phase. Upon reaching midway, Space Tug must reverse propulsion direction to decelerate. Tug propulsion continues as it slows habitat to orbital speed around the Red Planet. |
| DESTINATION MARS Once there, Habitat might occupy an Mars Geosynchronous Orbit (MGO) with period of 24.62 hours. same duration as rotation of Mars equator. Thus, it could hover over same position indefinitely, much like a Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) satellite over our planet, Earth. Orbit of Deimos is farthest from Mars. At MGO, habitat would be between Mars' moons. Orbit of Phobos, nearest to Mars, |
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When vessel reaches Mars, habitat separates and permanently enters a Martian orbit. It deploys a mirror to leverage sunlight to power habitat's infrastructure.
As more habitats travel to Mars, they can deploy at different “parking” orbits.
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In MGO, habitat can continuously monitor designated surface location as deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) resources prepare it for for visits by the habitat humans.
Most human visitors will spend most time in their orbiting habitat to simulate Earth gravity via centrifugal force (spin about longitudinal axis).
Some humans will spend some time on the Martian surface and subsurface, but long term reduced gravity will have serious health consequences.
Most time should be in the habitat to maintain the required muscle tone and other health features maintained by constant Earth gravity.
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3rd Phase. Tug immediately starts its return voyage without the habitat which stays at Mars.
Like Phase I, it must accelerate back to midway.
Assuming immediate return, distance/times for return leg should be almost equal to the distance/times of departure leg.
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4th Phase. Returning vessel will transport some people as well as scientific treasures mined from Mars and its moons.
During this final deceleration, g-force vessel slows down to Terran orbital velocity. |
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Someday, habitats may deploy to other positions in Earth’s Solar orbit; perhaps 60o ahead of Earth; here named Alpha, 1 AU away.
To support this more distant destination, expand Space Tug's acceleration capability to 5% g; thus, the habitat will accelerate to midway distance (dAcc) to .5 AU.
Use Newton’s motion equation to determine associated acceleration time (tAcc), 6.33 days.
As in previous example (Near Mars), the deceleration distance/time will equal propulsion in reverse direction.
Thus, total travel time from Earth to Alpha will be:
t = 2×tAcc = 12.66 days
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Further expanding service for habitats, new, improved Space Tug could travel directly from habitat Alpha to habit Omega as shown.
THIS EXAMPLE can show total time/distance for g-force vessel.
Acceleration distance (dAcc) to midway would be .866 AU and acceleration time (tAcc) would be 5.89 days.
Consider it axiomatic that deceleration time/distance equals acceleration time/distance.
Thus, total travel distance is twice acceleration distance:
d = 2 × dAcc
Total travel time is twice acceleration time:
t = 2 × tAcc = 2 × √(d/a)
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| Consider more typical Line Of Sight (LOS) distances to near Earth destinations. Thus, it might be possible to quickly g-force travel to and from habitats co-located with celestial objects throughout the Solar System. Some trips would move habitats to new locations, but most trips would transport humans and cargo among many habitats. Interplanetary Volume discusses g-force travel among the planets. |  |
| As space tugs grow bigger and more capable, they will be able to push habitats to further and further destinations in a reasonable time. |
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| SLIDESHOW |
| VOLUME 0: ELEVATIONAL |
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| VOLUME I: ASTEROIDAL |
| VOLUME II: INTERPLANETARY |
| VOLUME III: INTERSTELLAR |
posted by JimODell at 2:14 AM
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