Re: starship-design: Re:Food in space

[Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca>]

"L. Parker" wrote:

> There have already been several studies that showed it was more practical to
> carry consumables than to manufacture them in a closed loop system for
> almost any limited duration mission. A permanent presence in orbit however,
> is by definition not a limited duration mission. The cost of setting up the
> initial self sustaining ecosystem can now be carried across dozens, even
> hundreds of years.
> 
> Was there a break even point in the studies? At what point (how many
> man-years) does it become preferable to build such a system?
> 
I can't say in man-years but it would depend on

1) The population base. More people the better.
2) The flexibility of the environment. A lunar complex vs a transport craft.
3) The base level the system was designed with. A computer made up of TEL &
simple
memory chips would be easier to maintain than a multi-media 986 with holographic
displays.
4) The level of independence. How long can you survive with a transportation
loss to earth. 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years,35 years, no
contact needed

Build a  few of the city-states here on earth is a good idea,
and move to space some time later.


A personal web site with ideas on space habitat I found on the net:
"The Space Travel Web Site!
This is not just science fiction. By Richard Doran"
http://users.erols.com/richdoran/index.htm

Ben


PS. Anybody watch "2050 After the warming?". One item suggested was getting way
from monolithic
cities to smaller compact units. 
 
-- 
   -----------------------------------------------------------------
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Einstein
"We do not inherit our time on this planet from our parents...
 We borrow it from our children."
"Autodynamics - Physics for the next millennium." www.autodynamics.org