EARTHSHIP I - Part III - Maiden Voyage

It is March of 2040 and Earthship I is in its final test and validation phase at its LEO assembly and test space station. A great deal has happened on Earth. much of it good news. Here are some highlights:

• The ISO is a reality and has actually evolved from an expansion of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). It continues to maintain it's main office in Vienna, Austria. There are 31 countries as members with Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and the United States as the key member nations.
• Russia, China, India and Japan have been major contributors in the design and development process including robotics and propulsion systems. Russia perfected a nuclear powered plasma system that operates similar to the VASIMR concept and delivers up to a sustained thrust of 75km/s for each engine.
• South Africa shares operations management responsibility with Australia and Brazil for the five Space Elevators strategically located around the equator.  Each of the units provide intermediate stops in LEO and then continue to their prime geosynchronous anchor space stations 110,000 miles above the Earth. Space Resorts International has begun construction of its first space resort at the Space Elevator anchor point above the Caribbean Sea.
• The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Space Agency (ESA) share the responsibilities for mission management, staffing and systems operations and maintenance of Earthship I. This same sub-group within the ISO are also the key member nations that oversee all deep space research programs carried out by the ISO.
• The United States (NASA) and Russia (ROSCOSMO) are responsible for the complete assembly and testing as well as crew training for Earthship I.
• For the five-year term beginning in 2040, NASA, ESA, and JAXA provide the executive committee leadership for the ISO. They will be relieving ROSCOSMO, the UK and China who just completed their five-year term.
• The Russell Schweickart Center for NEO Detection and Deterrence is currently staffed by the Canadian Space Agency and ESA. They provide operations and mission control for the detection and interception systems that are launched from geosynchronous stations strategically placed around the planet. Detection is provided primarily by NEOSat which operates in an heliocentric orbit that parallels that of the planet Venus. At this writing, this center has detected and successfully deflected five (5) very large asteroids that were predicted to impact planet Earth.

The crew for Earthship I's maiden flight have been selected with the commander being a senior NASA astronaut. Other crew members (5) are astronauts from Canada, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Two of that crew are female astronauts. They will take Earthship I to the Moon and back as its first fully operational spaceflight. The anticipated travel time from LEO will be approximately 2 hours and 27 minutes. This is a bit longer than if the spacecraft were to operate at full power, however, for the maiden flight a more moderate propulsion choice is planned.

Earthship I will spend one week touring the Moon and the mission will include the deployment of a lander vehicle that will visit China's Moon base. It is planned that two Chinese scientist-astronauts will return on the lander to board Earthship I for the voyage back to Earthship I's LEO base. These astronauts will then be met by a Chinese shuttle spacecraft that will take them back to their Earth base in China.

Yes, as you have seen, the entire mission profile for Earthship I and the International Space Organization is fully international. In the case of China and its Moon base, this was established by China prior to the fully formed ISO and the newer international programs for space exploration. By the end of 2045 China's Moon base will become an ISO Moon base and will be staffed by astronauts from many of the member nations.

Right now all of this Earthship I narrative is just an expression of expectations in the development of an international space organization and the full development of Earthship I and the Space Elevator programs. With its success the ISO and Earthship I are vital major advances in global space exploration unity. This will grow and strengthen and as it does, humankind will move closer to that day when future generations will go well beyond the confines of our solar system.  When they do, they will then carry forward the dreams and ambitions of space enthusiasts and scientists that began at the instant that early humans looked upward in wonder and excitement.

EARTHSHIP I - Part II: Genesis

Starship Excelsior

Like so much of science fiction, the imaginative works of Gene Roddenberry and his Star Trek histories predict much of our future. This is definitely close to the truth in the overall design of the various starship spacecraft in Star Trek.

In this regard, we have borrowed an overview image of the Excelsior model starship as representative of what Earthship  I will resemble. Note, some of the aesthethic refinements in the image may not be in the real spacecraft; however, the main dinner-plate-like body will clearly illustrate the effective inclusion of an alternate gravity environment on board Earthship I.

The entire dinner plate internal area rotates at exactly 1.5 revolutions per minute thus sustaining an effective 1G gravity environment on board Earthship I. This is an actual application of the Stanford Torus concept. If you have visited the two links above you will know that Earthship I is very large in order to accommodate the necessary rotational arm radius that will create a 1G environment at the desired low RPM.. This is necessary to insure that an anti-gravity centrifuge design does not induce disorientation and other undesirable effects upon the crews.

The location of the propulsion units as shown on the Excelsior model are generally a good example. The units themselves will utilize basic plasma propulsion generated by, ideally, nuclear power. Each unit is independent of the other with respect to power generation. If this is to be the preferred propulsion technology then most likely Russia, an international space organization member, will manufacture and test the engines based upon their plans to utilize nuclear powered propulsion. This a clear advantage of an international space operation that pulls together the best designs and developments from the organization's members. This can save development costs, and speed up the entire process of producing Earthship I.

How on Earth are we going to do this in Low Earth Orbit? This is one of the reasons we have set a goal of by or before the end of the 21st century.  We will need to use some Heavy Lift Launch vehicles, but the real success of the program will depend upon the successful design, development and testing of space elevator systems.


Our original idea of assembling Earthship I in an MEO (Middle Earth Orbit) has been rejected due to the anticipated extreme cosmic radiation exposure. Constructing some type of shielded assembly site imposes both higher costs and serious project delays. Our plan now is to nestle the assembly process and testing withing the narrow band of LEO that lies beneath the lower region of the Van Allen Belt and is essentially shielded by the belt and the Earth's geomagnetism. This, as we know, is the same environment shared by the International Space Station.

Getting To The Assembly and Test Site is going to require both lift vehicles and active space elevators. The lift vehicle will be a very advanced adaptation of the scramjet spaceplane concept and will be used to move the "dinner-plate" shell of Earthship I up to the assembly and test site. This major section of the spacecraft will be assembled on Earth, but will not include the installation of all electronics, propulsion and control systems, and crew areas. All of these will be accomplished in LEO.

Encased in an aerodynamic shroud, this key portion of the spacecraft will be flown to its assembly point on a pair of powerful scramjet spaceplanes that are linked in parallel to each other. This is the first and only time that any part of Earthship I will either enter or exit a planetary atmosphere. All other components of the spacecraft are carried to the assembly area by space elevators and super shuttles that provide the link between the space elevator sites and the assembly area. In this regard, it is anticipated that the space elevator, spaceplane, and super-shuttle operations are all accomplished by international, commercial contractors.

Breakthrough technologies prevail in this program. Here is a list of the most significant:

1. Design, development and production of the scramjet/spaceplane concept that utilizes the inclined rail launch concept. This overcomes the extreme lift demands for a standard rocket launch system.
2. Successful assembly of a practical application of the Stanford Torus design to insure a safe, 1G environment within the Earthship I spacecraft.
3. Design, development and inauguration of the Tether or SpaceElevator service; first as a cargo lift device and later as a unique passenger lift vehicle into space.
4. Nuclear powered plasma propulsion systems that will provide travel speeds that will get Earthship I to Mars in less than a month and a half (35-40 days).
5. Development and test of both super-shuttle and lander craft that support the entire Earthship I program. The lander craft are on board Earthship I and are capable of returning to the spacecraft after an exploration flight to a target planetary body.
6. Personal and spacecraft radiation shielding technologies that provide structurally strong (spacecraft) and lightweight (personal and spacecraft) materials.
7. Creation of several geo-synchronous orbiting space stations that support assembly test operations, transportation hubs, fueling stations, and new tourist sites as well as both anchor points and waystations for the spacelevators.
8. A successful LEO Sweeper Operation, that patrols LEO and makes certain that all dangerous space junk is carefully disposed or captured and returned to an orbiting repair station.

Summary and Conclusion - Part II: Nobody will say any of this is easy and that it will not have some very knotty problems to solve, but the very effort will greatly enhance the scientific, engineering and technical strengths of every member nation of the ISO (international space organization). This, in turn, will produce significant growth in the economies and well-being of these same nations. It represents a major evolutionary step for humankind and gets us one step closer to our eventual ability to go well beyond our own solar system.

In Part III, soon to follow, we will join the crew of Earthship I for its maiden voyage. Please join us.

CREDITS:
Starship Exclesior: Courtesy of "The Celestial Motherlode" http://bit.ly/dePcAz

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.

GraviTmod: Spacecraft Gravity Room

Weightless Astronaut - Physiological Effects

CONCEPT: At the moment, what is presented here is based on unproven assumptions, but have a reasonable potential to be a plausible and effective solution. The solution is the provision of 1G gravity environments for astronauts who are traveling in deep space for prolonged (greater than 180 days) periods of time at ZeroG (weightless).

KEY ASSUMPTIONS: The fundamental physiological assumption here is that the astronauts must experience a 1G environment at least 6 hours out of every 24 hours. This interval is expected to offset physiological conditions that generally weaken the astronauts overall physical profiles with strong potentials for direct impact on cognitive functioning as well. At the same time, it is recognized that the daily moving in and out of a gravity environment can also be destabilizing. What is not yet understood is whether this daily transition can eventually be tolerated by spacecraft crew without disorientation or discomfort.

SPACECRAFT CONFIGURATION: The spacecraft in this regard is essentially an extremely large, traveling space station that includes several interconnected modules. The central module is the gravity room (GraviTmod) that is a centrifuge system that gradually places astronauts into a 1G environment. As noted above, they remain in this environment for a total of 6 hours each day. The image of the Stanford Torus is one design example of a large centrifuge system that serves as the GraviTmod of the spacecraft.

Stanford Torus

MAJOR DESIGN AND OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES: Certainly the most obvious is the huge size of the space station/craft. The size is dictated by the space considerations for an artificial gravity system that uses the centrifuge concept.  To insure a 1G environment at a non-disturbing rotational velocity, the GraviTmod must accommodate a rotational arm(s) that is approximately 200 meters (600 feet) in length, This length is increased by the attachment of a rotational tube-room that must rotate at approximately 1-2 rotations/minute to achieve the desired gravity effect. This configuration is also essential, as stated above,  to insure that the crew inside experiences correct artificial gravity without it inducing disorientation, motion sickness, light-headedness, and other physical reactions to the rotational forces.

• The 600 ft length is only the arm radius so the entire GraviTmod is more than 1200ft in diameter.
• Another critical question is whether a centrifuge of this size will induce the gyroscopic effect that could effect both the maneuverability of the spacecraft-spacestation, and astronaut physical sense of balance. An excellent presentation on this issue was done by NASA. You may review that document here (pdf file download).
• Another important consideration is long-term astronaut explorations of planetary and asteroid bodies with little or no gravity. This does not seem either wise or productive considering the physiological and possible neurological impact of prolonged weightlessness.  One technique would be to deploy robonauts instead of human astronauts for explorations in these environments. Another would be to consider the construction of a "on-the-ground" gravity module that served as home base for astronauts involved in long-term planetary explorations. In this concept they could at least be in a 1G environment for a safe daily interval to sustain their physical well being.

This author is a dedicated advocate for deep space exploration, but at the same time he recognizes the many human factor challenges that must be considered and met to insure a safe and productive exploration program. Weightlessness is only one vital consideration. In some of our solar system planets, there is little or no atmosphere and little or no protection from the solar winds and high cosmic radiation. These considerations must also be addressed before we can plan on sustained and safe human exploration of these planetary bodies.

CREDITS:

Stanford Torus spacecraft design

Weightless Astronaut annotated image:: Courtesy Daniels and Daniels/Scientific American/Astrobiology

THE VIRTUAL EDUCATOR

Nintendo Wii, SecondLife, Virtual Worlds and other virtual reality (VR) systems, increasingly take us into 3D fantasy and reality. All are popular monuments to the powerful and innovative skills of computer geniuses. So why haven't we taken the best of all of this and sent it to school? Well, we are. There is extensive research being conducted to increase the role of VR systems in research, business and education environments. In this regard, our position is that VR education systems need greater attention and development. Why?

Direct visualization and interactive participation take the student beyond the humdrum and into experiential learning. So, are we advocating replacing teachers with avatars?  Absolutely not, we are talking about virtual partners for teachers that dramatically expand their reach with their students. For the students we are talking about using their high interest in gaming technology and turning them toward educational topics. Topics that are presented in an exciting, challenging and engaging way.

A landmark effort in this regard is being carried out by ActiveWorlds.com, Harvard University and Arizona State University. Additionally, 12 states and their students and teachers have participated in the research to introduce virtual reality based instruction.This program is the The River City Project. At the professional level, institutions such as Penn State/Hershey Medical Center use virtual reality modules to instruct professionals in medical techniques.

The ground has been broken, and now we must begin a major evolution in both primary and secondary education by adding direct virtual reality systems with learning modules as a standard in all public and private schools. Considering the difficult time in developing standardized education across the nation, moving to this next step will be extremely challenging and initially very costly. The price, however, is quite small when compared to the immense gains in educational curricula and student progress.

For this presentation we submit our generalized model of the ideal VR system for the school. Unlike the cache based system developed by Active Worlds, we support the full streaming design. We acknowledge this is more demanding, but we are doing it within individualized, closed system networks for each school system. By school system we are talking about the schools in each school district. Statewide systems are too prone to a variety of problems that make effective employment of the system on a daily basis impractical.  At the most the VR server and support system would be designed to be only district wide.  This in itself will be quite demanding in both design and cost.

Each classroom and each student desk will be equipped with visual, interactive access to specific VR learning modules. These modules are stored within a central system library and can be individually accessed by a student. The system, therefore, allows students within a given class to be accessing different VR learning modules. This is essential to fully support an overall curriculum designed to take full advantage of VR learning. 

These programs are planned to be available from the 3rd grade on. Additionally, K through 2nd grade students will receive active training and demonstration in VR systems so that they are ready to use the system when they enter the 3rd grade. Each of these students will also be helped to create their individual avatars which will be permanent for their entire school term. They have the option to change avatars at the beginning of each new grade. This recognizes changes in student maturity and interests and lets them express it in their avatar creations. That's right each student specifically designs their avatar to reflect who they are. They learn the value of uniqueness within a social setting.

The virtual reality systems do not dictate the curriculum. They will be designed to extend and amplify the curriculum and in many instances provide enhanced learning for those students who are having difficulty absorbing or visualizing the subject matter. This will be true for both the sciences and the arts (English, History, Art, etc.). Class schedules will be adjusted to allow the utilization of VR learning and it is expected that this will completely change the structure of the day to day education schedule. We regard this as a vital and important part of our vision of an evolution in human education.

The introduction of VR learning will produce an explosion of computer programming and graphic talents. This is what we consider to be a spectacular benefit of this evolution. It is extending technology deeper into everyday lives in a highly productive and supportive manner. Additionally, it is expected that we will see a transition of youngster fascination, almost addiction from distractive gaming to highly engaging and challenging VR experiences. These are experiences that are expected to be formative and to remain active in the youngsters' memories and personalities.

Yes, we are way out on the edge in this area, but we believe it is a leading edge. It is one that is vital for humankind to evolve and prepare for a host of new challenges here on Earth and within our galaxy and the universe. If we fail, we become, as we have opined before, another lost civilization within this glorious place we call universe.

CREDITS:

Cybertown Image courtesy of Cybertown.com and Creative Commons permission.