Tuesday, September 7, 2010

EARTHSHIP I: Part I - Elements of the Plan

This is a three-part blog series that will introduce and describe the processes of developing and deploying the first international exploration spaceship designed to support expeditions to the planetary bodies and moons of our solar system. The principal goal is to complete the planning, design and assembly of Earthship I and have it ready for launch before the end of the 21st century. We have, therefore, 90 years to achieve this goal. It is our estimate that we will need a significant percentage of that available time.

Assumptions: The key assumptions associated with the Earthship I plan are divided into two vital categories. Each category, in turn, contains a number of conditions that directly affect the success of this program. Full details are not available at this time, but we will include as many specifics as possible. Visitors to this blog site and specifically to this blog series are invited to suggest specific details that we have not included. The two vital categories are: GeoPolitical and SciTech. These assumptions are considered to operate in parallel and are critically interdependent.

GeoPolitical Assumptions:
  • There must be a fully structured international space organization (perhaps an expansion of UNOOSA) that provides the leadership, and mission planning and operations for the exploration of our solar system.
  • There must be major diplomatic agreements that ideally eliminate, or at least reduce aggressive conflicts between political entities on planet Earth. This is necessary in order for an international space organization to be successfully formed and operated. The governing philosophy is that our outreach into our solar system and beyond is a mission of the citizens of Earth and not a specific goal or mission of any one nation.
  • All member nations of the international space organization support the preservation and protection of planet Earth. Until, at some distant future time, Earthlings abandon this planet for a new planetary home somewhere in our galaxy or beyond, we must be actively committed to preserving and protecting all aspects of our home base - planet Earth.
  • Individual member nations all contribute to and benefit from this space program. It is expected that Earthship I will be a virtual monument to the international commitment and direct scientific and financial investment made by each member nation.
  • Commercial ventures are encouraged with respect to the overall program, but they must adhere to the rules and regulations developed and maintained by the international space organization. Commercial ventures are also expected to share development costs and operations expenses amongst each other and with the international space organization. This latter objective is not to impose restrictions, but to impart increased incentives for new development through this share-the-program requirement.
  • There are no "evil empires" within our solar system, to the best of our knowledge (except those from our own past histories), and therefore, the idea of "arming" space in either a defensive or war-making manner is in direct violation of the governing laws of the international space organization. This philosophy is actually an operational requirement. We, the citizens of Earth are dedicated to spacefaring not to warfare.
  • Both monetary and environmental benefits from our spacefaring are globally shared. This is the only way this international consortium can operate to the benefit of all humankind. Failure in this regard will eventually fracture the structure of the organization and plunge the citizens of Earth back into the dark ages of declining evolution.
SciTech Assumptions:
Artists Concept of Space Elevator
  • SciTech is meant to include the sciences, engineering and technology. All three of these major disciplines are essential to the success of this program. Most importantly, the expected innovations that will be produced by all the member nations will raise the level of Earthship's design and operational efficiency to the highest level.
  • Earthship I will be huge. The idea of attempting to assemble this spacecraft in Moderate Earth Orbit (MEO) would be uneconomical if we must depend upon the use of heavy lift vehicles (HLVs). A key assumptions is that the international organization will be successful in the design, development, testing and deployment of a number of geo-strategically placed SpaceElevators.
  • Moderate Earth Orbit (MEO) will be the new birth place for Earthship I. Moderate Earth Orbit is at ~100,000km above the Earth's surface.  It is important for the operations associated with both the assembly and testing of Earthship I and the Space Ops Center that includes the crew exchange service area to be beyond the Van Allen belt. Despite this safety measure, there will still be varying exposures to cosmic radiation. This operations area, which is also the top anchor for space elevators, must provide a degree of protection from cosmic rads. The combined space elevator anchor and Space Ops Center maintains a geosynchronous orbit above the Earth. Note: Research may indicate that Earthship I assembly, test and deployment would be better at an L2 (Lagrange point) site.  In this case, space-trucks would transfer parts and crew to the L2 site from the Space Elevator Ops Center.
  • Since Earthship I is to be assembled and tested at MEO, there is no necessity for HLV type propulsion units. Preliminary propulsion plans call for plasma type propulsion systems similar to the VASIMR prototype or more advance nuclear (fission) propulsion units. These nuclear units are similar in design and size to those employed on nuclear powered submarines. Please see the comments section below for a list of references about these propulsion systems.
  • Earthship I's only Earthly contact will be at the Space Ops Center. It will never be required to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere or that of any other planetary body it visits.
  • Skywalker Space Hotel
  • The space elevators are expected to be commercially operated under contract with the International Space Organization. These commercial contractors will also have the opportunity to utilize the space elevators for passenger transport to space taxis that carry the passengers to orbiting space resorts. Other anticipated commercial applications of the space elevators is for crew and equipment transport to spacecraft that service commercial industrial sites at licensed asteroid and planetary locations.  All such commercial operations must be approved, licensed and monitored by the International Space Organization.
  • A direct spin-off application of the space elevator and space ops centers is the utilization of solar energy and nuclear energy to power all of the orbiting activities at either MEO or at an L2 site. These results will also definitely be of direct benefit to the citizens and industries on Earth.  They will directly share in this breakthrough energy production methodology.
The above assumptions and their key points are just the beginning. Please do not hesitate to add you views and suggestions in the comments below.  We will also be expanding on the above in our discussions in Parts 2 and 3 of this blog series.  We hope you will be there with us.


CREDITS:
Saturn image: Reta Beebe (New Mexico State University), D. Gilmore, L. Bergeron (STScI), and NASA
SpaceElevator: SpaceElevator blog: http://www.spacelevatorblog.com
Skywalker Space Hotel - Courtesy of Bigelow Aerospace - Las Vegas Nevada.

2 comments:

  1. The VASIMR propulsion system. http://bit.ly/d7rjyn

    Nuclear propulsion and mission to Mars http://bit.ly/cTwDSL (YouTube vid)

    ReplyDelete
  2. More on nuclear propulsion for space exploration. http://bit.ly/92Y0AY

    ReplyDelete