Mars Colony - Still open to new players

[Blinkin]

Hmmm... just a wild idea here, and it's totally theoretical...

It's suggested that the moon has all the oxygen, water and hygrogen it could ever need... in the rocks...

Didn't the Mars Rover determine that Mars rocks had some of the same ccompounds in martian rock? It wouldn't be particularly efficient, but if so, (and God could simply say so), then you have a source for water, oxygen, hydrogen and a number of other trace elements... the question is... is it worth the time for the results.

Or, you could simply produce one big mass driver to propell them into orbit like a giant version of the sidearms in the colony...

[mayovagn]

This being our game and not quite reality we could of course use artistic license!

As long as we are not harming anyone's suspension of disbelief.

M.

[blakel]

This being our game and not quite reality we could of course use artistic license!

As long as we are not harming anyone's suspension of disbelief.

M.

Unlikely seeing as reality itself harms my suspension of disbelief.

Oh well.

[Chrystal]

Okay... well, I'm stumped.

Unless we can use something like magnesium as a rocket fuel...

Plants are going to feature big in the terraforming of Mars, there being enough sun for photosynthesis and far to much CO₂ available...

Asteroid mining is the next logical step after the Martian Colony is established, but is really not something that MarsCorp is set up to do. After the Asteroids, the next step would be Jupiter's moons, and then ..... Alpha Centauri.

But that is about a hundred and fifty years in the future, and our characters won't live to see it. Their children might, and their grand children might even be on the first manned interstellar vessel to set out from Earth!

But I dream....

I'm not sure what sort of fuel you originally had in mind, Linna, but hydrocarbons are a non-starter.

Yes there is water on Mars, but it's mostly frozen in the polar icecaps, or tied up in deep underground frozen lakes beneath the regolith permafrost. So far as I am aware... and information on the internet is contradictory, Mars does not have a liquid core like Earth. Earth's core is kept liquid by a number of factors, not least being the presence of radioactive elements. I suspect that Mars is cooler, because there are no active volcanoes on Mars (in spite of the highest volcano in the solar system being there).

Getting the water out is going to be a mammoth task, therefore.


Okay, how about this:

Let's leave the science to one side for now... If we need to revisit it at a later date we can.

For the moment my primary task is to get an OOC thread open and see who is still playing...

[Frelance]

I am interested in making a Resource Extraction Engineer character. So I should have a CS up today or tomorrow. Unless I missed someone who took the position when I was scanning the characters that were already made which is very possible.


Also just to add in my own two cents about the fuel. The method of making fuel from resources that are on mars is viable. The reason I am saying this is because the amount of hydrogen needed to make fuel out of mar's atmosphere is a small percentage. I cannot remember what that percent is at the moment but the plans NASA was shown said that they return craft would need to bring the hydrogen with it but it was a very small amount. So why not have MarsCorp just send a shipment of compressed hydrogen to mars after each shipment of ore is sent to Earth. Just have it so there is one robotic tug that takes brings ore back to Earth then heads back to mars with a shipment of hydrogen.

Just going to add that I have no idea how much hydrogen is on Earth so that could really kill my idea but I am sure someone can mine is from the moon dust.

[Blinkin]

Hello All:

This is just a fast note to let everyone know that I will be going back to guide dog school for 3 weeks starting August 27, 2012.

My internet access at school will be severely limited and for a few weeks once I'm home again, my posting may be sporatic until the dog settles in.

These dogs are major investments in time, money and training, so the time has to be spent to make sure that the bonding process is as successful as possible... A uide dog is likely worth more than you SUV. lol

Anyway, I'll be around to post regularly for the next 3 weeks or so, but after that, someone can play my character as needed until I get back, or if necessary, remove her.

[Chrystal]

I am interested in making a Resource Extraction Engineer character. So I should have a CS up today or tomorrow. Unless I missed someone who took the position when I was scanning the characters that were already made which is very possible.


Also just to add in my own two cents about the fuel. The method of making fuel from resources that are on mars is viable. The reason I am saying this is because the amount of hydrogen needed to make fuel out of mar's atmosphere is a small percentage. I cannot remember what that percent is at the moment but the plans NASA was shown said that they return craft would need to bring the hydrogen with it but it was a very small amount. So why not have MarsCorp just send a shipment of compressed hydrogen to mars after each shipment of ore is sent to Earth. Just have it so there is one robotic tug that takes brings ore back to Earth then heads back to mars with a shipment of hydrogen.

Just going to add that I have no idea how much hydrogen is on Earth so that could really kill my idea but I am sure someone can mine is from the moon dust.

Hi Frelance.

The only characters that there can be only one of are those with red or purple text, but I don't think anyone has made a "miner" yet.

Interesting to know that the amount of hydrogen would be small.

As for the amount on Earth.... There are oceans of the stuff, just sitting around in pairs with an oxygen atom between them, waiting for that electric current to grant them their freedom...

So, the Phobos station becomes the terminus for robot drones that shuttle back and forth on parabolic inertial orbits between Mars and Earth every few months with raw materials one way and products, including H₂(l) the other. Interestingly if we have enough Hydrogen, we can use the oxygen stripped from the CO₂ to make water...

Still need a shuttle pilot, though, mostly because landing an interplanetary craft by parachute is all well and good, but doesn't compare with a nice soft shuttle landing.



Blinkin, have fun, and do well. Guide dogs are worth every penny...

[mayovagn]

Would advances in science and technology have possibly allowed us access to more efficient rendering of the regolith by this point in time the game is set for both resource extraction and tunneling?

[Chrystal]

Good idea...

A tunnelling machine of the same sort that is used to make the domes. Basically feed regolith in at one end, mix it with some sort of resin and at the other end you get a sticky substance that can be sprayed onto a surface.

To make a dome, you spray it onto an inflated balloon. To make a tunnel, you spray it onto the tunnel walls. The stuff sets instantly and so is usable immediately, and in about four hours it has gone off to the consistency of adamantium. Within the first two hours it is still workable and can be drilled, cut, bonded, etc. Once it has gone off completely it is permanent and cannot be changed.

The tunnel mining machines will spray a thin layer (maybe 2cm thick) along the inside of the tunnel as they dig, thus creating a collapse-free mine. The tunnels will be 2m diameter. The machine will crush and compact the material dug out , leaving hard (but workable) blocks of ore in it's wake. These blocks, each about 1m x 50cm x 50cm, will be picked up and carried to the surface by another machine. These machines can be robots or driven.

How does that grab?

Of course the resin is something that will initially be imported from Earth.

[mayovagn]

It sounds good to me, of course I am not so fussed about complete realism. *Grins*

Would we have quantum computing and storage by this point? (Cos carrying around hideously massive amounts of data on a little tiny stick type drive would be of course unspeakably cool and allow folks to bring incredible amounts of entertainment with them for the trip)

[Chrystal]

I think the logical extrapolation of the cranial implant chip is that you don't need to carry around a stick with all your music and entertainment on it. It's all in your head! You can use a standard wireless connection which is built in to the chip to log directly on to the internet (on Earth - on Mars it's slightly more tricky).  From there you can do anything you can do on the internet currently, including down-load music, films, games, etc... These can be stored in the memory on the chip or uploaded into the person's own memory - thus they would remember the entire film, the piece of music, etc...

I don't think quantum computing is actually viable myself. To make it work you would effectively need to recreate the human brain. Why bother? Why not just use the human brain in the way I described above?

Incidentally, military cranial implants have a hard-jack socket, either just below one ear or at the back of the neck. The idea is that if you use bluetooth or some other electromagnetic signal to control a piece of hardware it can be jammed, but if you use a shielded wire that plugs directly into the brain, it can't be.

Cranial implant chips are already under development and one has been successfully used to help a disabled person control a mechanical arm.

[Dashenka]

A Sci Fi game hosted by Chrystal and with Zillah playing Thirteen....


even if I had NO IDEA what it was all about I'd have given this my interest but now... I'm definately in.


If you still have some room for me :D

[Chrystal]

Always room for my Kalashnikitty :)

Would you like the job of Company Rep/2IC? that one has yet to be filled and needs to be.

[mayovagn]

Is it just me, or is this game full of brits?

*Chuckles*

[Dashenka]

I'm not a Brit. I'm import. :D

[mayovagn]

I'm not a Brit. I'm import. :D

I am not a Canadian. I'm an import. From brit land. *Grins*

[Chrystal]

And a Russian who is living in London!

Not totally full of Brits, Zillah is American I think (at least she's in America).

Damn, I've been too busy to get the OOC thread opened, plus I feel like crap right now. Severe cramping, possibly Auntie Flow coming to call (although the HRT is supposed to deal with that), or possibly IBS. But you guys don't want to know that.

I'll get it open tomorrow without fail, I promise!

(Remind me to reserve the first three posts for game info...)

[blakel]

I'm 'muhrican! And we rule the world and invented English!

[mayovagn]

And a Russian who is living in London!

Not totally full of Brits, Zillah is American I think (at least she's in America).

Damn, I've been too busy to get the OOC thread opened, plus I feel like crap right now. Severe cramping, possibly Auntie Flow coming to call (although the HRT is supposed to deal with that), or possibly IBS. But you guys don't want to know that.

I'll get it open tomorrow without fail, I promise!

(Remind me to reserve the first three posts for game info...)

*Offers Chrystal a hug*

[Blinkin]

Thanks for the well wishes, and hopefully it'll be a fast session... 18 days to go and a ton to do!

I'm 100% American, and living in the US... so it's not all brits. lol

Laura originally had small aircraft piloting as a skill, it shouldn't e too difficult to translate that into an orbitor; it's just a bigger, heavier and less ajile plane... it's an option to think about and I'm willing to expand Laura... She would probably want to inspect the containers to make sure that nothing has been sent that shouldn't... like people, bombs, germs... ;) Her biggest concern would be corporate esponiage to hurt the colony.

[Dashenka]

Yes and Russia is a democratic country where freedom of speech is held in high regard.  C:)


As for the role. I'm not really sure which role is still open but I would like either something technical, or something more simple, like cook/maid/pleasure girl.

[Montagne]

British born and bred. My grandfather was one of the red coated guards with the big hats you tourists love to annoy and I worked for the royals when I was younger....damn I'm a stereotype

[mayovagn]

Yes and Russia is a democratic country where freedom of speech is held in high regard.  C:)


As for the role. I'm not really sure which role is still open but I would like either something technical, or something more simple, like cook/maid/pleasure girl.

What was that last one again? *laughs*

[Montagne]

What was that last one again? *laughs*

A valued crew member if I ever saw one.

[Zillah]

And a Russian who is living in London!

Not totally full of Brits, Zillah is American I think (at least she's in America).

Not British. I'm a very proud Italian-American from the U.S. Although most of my favourite (see what I did there?) writing partners on E are British, or British imports. :)

And, oh, by the way ... yay! A new game with Dashenka! So happy you're joining us! :)