@FutureHistorian It tends to be quiet over the weekends, and some weeks it's busier than others
You need a reason for the outer colonies to exist. Then you need a reason for them to want independence...then you need a reason for someone to oppose independence
answering all those things depends a lot on your background/tech level/where you want the story to go/etc.
@TimB There's a bunch of interesting sociology wrapped up here. Do the colonists leave in order to get away from oppression (Puritans to the Americas), or are they trying to strike it rich (California Gold Rush)?
Escape from Terra is a personal favorite example of the interactions and motivations behind why someone would move out to an uninhabited area.
I thought abut writing up a question, but I wasn't sure if it would be on topic. I would like to know what you think.
I drew a little map of a continent the size of Europe, but there is one are that I'm not sure about the climate. As for the location of this map, remove Canada and Mexico and r...
@Green I would love to write such a query, but I just noticed the triweekly challenge just ended, and don't want people to think I have enough time to update it
For WB, no. I am working on designing and building an all-metal (and non-functional) ejection seat as an office chair. I want to make it out of aluminum sheet metal ('cause that's what the real thing is made out of). There aren't any plans available on the internet (well, not from reputable places), so I'm making my own based on reference pictures I've found.
I was working on a simulation of the evolutionary pressures that would favor a group with in-group bias over a more egalitarian group without in-group bias. I realized I'd have to simulate an ecosystem which is more than I wanted to spend my time on for idle curiosity.
My current question is how to form the sheet metal into some rounded shapes or longer curves. There are a couple places where I suspect I will need a press to get the shapes I want....or pony up for some flow forming gear (basically a strong rivet gun with some polymer "hammer heads".)
@James I want to make a t-shirt that says "YEAH! But ejection seat!"
I can't own a jet nor will be able to fly one (unless somehow I get crazy rich). I don't have space for a cockpit mockup in my apartment...but I do need an office chair and this is about as bad-ass an office chair as I can imagine.
@James Jim2B says he's an aerospace engineer so I might be able to pick his brain on somethings. Is he ever in general chat?
I ordered some sheet aluminum samples last week so they should be here today. I haven't worked with sheet metal either so this is going to be interesting.
No welding though, all rivets and screws. I'm planning on using a heat treated 6061-T6 alloy but if you weld it, the strength drops by half to 6061-0...which is probably strong enough for my needs but 50% strength drops are unacceptable.
@MikeL. My plan is to try it out at about 15 degrees from vertical and 30 degrees from vertical between the seat and the back. My theory is that those seats are designed for use in high g-loading environments and extended flying time where the pilot can't move out of his seat.
...given those conditions that the chair is designed to be very comfortable. I'm a little worried about forming the seat pan because it has some unusual curves but I may end up making that part out of wood that I curve myself.
So, I ran into a problem regarding the aftermath of a colonial war for independence. What happens is the following: The scenario is this: late 24th Century, humans have colonised the Inner Solar System, the Belt, the Trojans, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and the Moons and rings of Saturn.
The...
I have DCS:World A-10C and aspire to learn to fly it competantly. I figure that if I can learn to manage a combat workload and still fly the plane, I can handle learning to fly a Cessna 172 in real life without too much trouble.
This is one out of a series here on Universe Factory, where we look at the people behind the Worldbuilding. We present a number of short… Continue reading on Medium »
Well, your question is too broad; you state a situation and ask about its implications, so the answer could be virtually anything - a possible idea would be to think about implications yourself and ask others if your thoughts make sense/the described process seems logical and realistic :)
So, I ran into a problem regarding the aftermath of a colonial war for independence. What happens is the following: The scenario is this: late 24th Century, humans have colonised the Inner Solar System, the Belt, the Trojans, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and the Moons and rings of Saturn.
The...
@Bellerephon Ultimately trade is going to resolve to military strength. I mean, the outer planets could blackmail the inner planets into giving up the required phosphorus.
@FutureHistorian From your question "The colonists of Mars and the Outer Solar System are starting to culturally drift away from Earth, and have various political disputes that shall be explained at a different time. However, they cannot become independent without access to life's bottleneck: phosphorus. "
I'
m confused now.
Do the outer colonies have access to sufficient Phosphorus or don't they?
To realistically have the uprising be successful, you need to find a way to keep your life support systems operational. No phosphorous = no surplus population.
@Bellerephon That's a really energy intensive process to make P from nuclear fusion. The heaviest man-made fusion processes I've ever heard of go no higher than fusing boron (atomic number=5). Phosphorus is 15!
@James you have blacksmithing experience, correct?
I have an old wall-hanger sword that I'm trying to revitalise. There are black spots aplenty on the blade, and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of them, since just cleaning it didn't help. I could take a dremel to it and get polishing, but I figured I could try something gentler first.
I know that acetic acid is sometimes used to remove rust from steel items. Is this something I could do at home? Like, wash iy in vinegar?
Now, yes, it is basically within a planetary level, and capable of enforcing national laws and regulations. And these 3 are also the only ones capable of exerting political influence on the newborn independent states elsewhere.
So, if that was my answer, do you believe it is the former, or the latter, @Green?
@MikeL. I'd have to suggest polishing. I have never used a chemical cleaner (acid or vinegar) personally. You can get really light grit sanding sponges and wet sand the blade.
That isn't to say a cleaner wouldnt work, I just haven't done it before.
There have been a lot of questions from new users that have been put on hold for being too broad. Most of these, thankfully, have a comment from another user referencing the help pages. However, if a new user understands the scope of the site, but is still struggling to formulate their question, ...
@FutureHistorian [Conversation. moved from The Bod Bay at SE]. To be honest, adding some restrictions and context have the potential to direct this question into very different directions. This is not a question I would be comfortable answering anyway.
@FutureHistorian I think you are going to get that from users more active over here, as your question is likely to get reopened (4 RO-votes now?). Best wishes.
While political factors would involve the increasing influence of UNAPA on the decisions the independent nation-states on Earth do regarding the colonies, and the centralisation of UNAPA (which was originally established as a way to regulate affairs between Earth's nations and handle inter-colony disputes, later becoming a de-facto international military force).
You know: pantropy and moderately available genetic engineering technologies in the region (overall, especially on Earth, gene-therapy and cybernetic enhancements are very widespread).
And despite the Outer Solar System being an emerging economic region in the years before the conflict, I can safely say that gene therapy is not as widespread there, despite pantropy being the norm there.
So, I ran into a problem regarding the aftermath of a colonial war for independence. What happens is the following: The scenario is this: late 24th Century, humans have colonised the Inner Solar System, the Belt, the Trojans, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and the Moons and rings of Saturn.
The...
@MikeL. ok I would start with this and see if it does the trick for you. Get some baking soda in a container and add water until it is pasty. Rub it on the blade...using something soft, a nylon brush for example. If that doesn't work soak it in vinegar for an hour and again stick with a soft brush (a toothbrush would probably work)
avoid strong acids and strong abrasives to start with
@MikeL. Actually I wouldn't recommend WD-40 at all. WD-40 is actually a water displacer (get it) and contains solvents, great for cleaning but I would treat the blade with an actual oil (olive oil works fine) just be sure to pick an oil that doesn't go bad.
So, I ran into a problem regarding the aftermath of a colonial war for independence. What happens is the following: The scenario is this: late 24th Century, humans have colonised the Inner Solar System, the Belt, the Trojans, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and the Moons and rings of Saturn.
The...
I would like to take off some of the edges on the handguard, and if I'm feeling lucky, take out a chunk of that brass handle and replace it with a leather-wrapped one.
This is a cause and effect question, regarding background in the lead up to the situation in the scenario and I need the side effects of the First Extraplanetary War. :/
Liquid Hydrocarbons 630g/L; Ammonia 5g/L", whereas the Material Safety Data Sheet for Brasso in North America lists: isopropyl alcohol 3-5%, ammonia 5-10%, silica powder 15-20% and oxalic acid 0-3% as the ingredients.[2]
@FutureHistorian Because it lists a fairly specific scenario with not enough context, and is fundamentally about politics, so there can be no definitive answer.
@FutureHistorian, so in summary. The question you're asking is, with a strong Earth-based government and a newly subjugated Mars, what considerations will Earth's politicians have in regards to dealing with the pantropic humans of the outer solar system?
@James Well, the abrasive cleaner didn't do anything for the black spots. On the plus side, I'll only need about a gallon of vinegar for the bath, so that's totally doable.
@James The thing is, this sword is really a $20 piece of crap I got off an auction site long ago, before I knew any better. But my wife has taken a liking to it and would like to use it as a dress sword, so I'm seeing whether I can get it restored.
So I'm willing to be a lot more experimental with it than I would be with a nicer, more expensive piece. I'm thinking I'd like to try bluing it in vinegar if I can make it work.
@FutureHistorian, I do have a favor to ask of you. I've noticed that you don't use the reply-to-chat-line feature very much and as a result ometimes it makes it harder for me to follow your comments and what you're replying to. Could you reply to specific to comments instead of just typing them, please?
@FutureHistorian If you mouse over someone's comment, all the way to the right of the comment you'll see a little flag, a star and a mirrored "return" symbol. It's that mirrored return symbol that will reply to someone's comment.
And I ran into another issue to deal with for the second confrontation between Earth and the colonies (and insurgent groups): the cost of moving a 1 km asteroid into a collision course with Earth. :/
And with enough damage to not cause a mass extinction, yet cause significant damage to Earth's economy.
@FutureHistorian I figured in my answer that in 3 centuries, energy won't be a problem. Secondly, to build permanent/thriving colonies on multiple bodies in the outer solar system will require a lot of manufacturing tech that we don't have yet.
The threat of a massive hail of 1km objects from lots of directions would be enough. After a certain size, it doesn't really matter where they land because of the dust/ash they'll kick up.
@FutureHistorian And these outer people are miners, primarily. Moving big heavy things is what they do.
@FutureHistorian Vis viva equation will tell you that. Unfortunately, it is always way cheaper to deflect the asteroid than to get it on a collision course in the first place, unless it has some sort of highly eccentric orbit rather than hanging around in the asteroid belt.
Imagine one of said non-hazardous NEOs becoming hazardous because some extremist group, independent miner or (in an unlikely scenario short of another conflict with Earth) an Outer Sol System government.
*.....
.....deciding to send it on a collision course with Earth. Let the people of Earth hope that the Orbital Guard can stop it before it becomes too late. :/
And hope that it does not cause a mass extinction of life on Earth.
Which would mean that it would take half a year at the very theoretical minimum (if it was on almost the same orbit as Earth), but more likely several through to many years to actually impact.
The second one being that the Earthers would see you do it.
Which, in combination, gives them plenty of time to re-divert it to a safe orbit. Unless you decide to equip it with some defences, or accompany it with warships to prevent them doing that.
Here is the thing: I am using 5 large mass drivers as a main propulsion system. However, I also have ICF Drives (first generation, civilian grade), for backup and course correction. So, what would be the exhaust velocity of each mass driver and how long would it take if the asteroid is 1 km long?
and the UNAPA do not need to board the thing, they can just use the poor man's Orion drive, for example (ie. nuke it until it changes orbit sufficiently)
@FutureHistorian That's almost entirely up to you and what technology you want to use.
It is supposed to comply with UN international law, and the Revised Outer Space Treaty (which still prohibits Orion Drives) is unfortunately going to make that a problem. :/
And the timespan's UN is still a political organisation like the current day (only more influential in extraplanetary affairs as per UNAPA).
@FutureHistorian Strictly speaking, Orion drives aren't prohibited by the Outer Space Treaty. OST just says you can't have nuclear weapons in space, in a militaristic sense. Orion got scrapped because of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which started between the US, UK, and USSR, and isn't a UN deal. So you could get away with it, unless you explicitly want your Revised treat to add a ban on Orion drives
The thing with international law is that it's whatever works at the time. You could have decades of peace and prosperity under the ROST, no problem. Then someone launches an asteroid at the Earth and they would need a few nukes to move it out of the collision orbit? I think that an amendment allowing it in that instance would get passed pretty quickly.
But talk to me about these gravitational tractors. There's definitely a possibility there. How strong are they, how far away do they work, etc?
I am a little inexperienced in that field, BUT I have an idea of the basic concept in general.
Also, as part of the topic, but not necessarily the "How to redirect an Asteroid" part, what would be the minimum before an asteroid is considered capable of causing an extinction level event?
Any asteroid is obviously a risk, but what is the minimum before being capable of killing nearly all life on Earth?
That's an interesting question. See, not all asteroids are created equal. The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is estimated at about 10km. Then there was an asteroid at the Popigai crater, 35MYA, that was 5-8km, and is believed to be connected to the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event. In general I'd say that 5km is a decent lower limit, especially since we're hand-waving a bit anyway (and it's not like we can run tests!)
Speed, angle, what it lands in, local weather patterns, general global climate....
Basic example: an asteroid hitting the ground is more deadly than an asteroid landing in the ocean
In the ocean it'll cause some big waves
On land it could launch debris into the upper atmosphere and cause several years of cooler temperatures
Direct impacts are worse for the planet that impacts at an angle
Et cetera, et cetera
So there's really not a way of knowing exactly how bad a specific impact is going to be without knowing all of these things
So the best we can do is approximate. We know that a 10km asteroid is likely what killed the dinosaurs. We think that a 5-8km asteroid was linked to another extinction event. So as a general estimate, 5km is a good lower limit
Basically, if a 5km asteroid was probably linked to one extinction event, getting hit by another one would be pretty bad at absolute best
Reading up through your discussions, you're talking about a 1km asteroid
That would mess up quite a few peoples' days, but wouldn't (probably) cause an ELE, so you're good
I thought abut writing up a question, but I wasn't sure if it would be on topic. I would like to know what you think.
I drew a little map of a continent the size of Europe, but there is one are that I'm not sure about the climate. As for the location of this map, remove Canada and Mexico and r...
So, I ran into a problem regarding the aftermath of a colonial war for independence. What happens is the following: The scenario is this: late 24th Century, humans have colonised the Inner Solar System, the Belt, the Trojans, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and the Moons and rings of Saturn.
The...
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