This Week 8–14 January 2023

This Week 1–6 January 2023 Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, a...

This Week 8–14 January 2023

Short science fiction by Torn MacAlester

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Morgan’s Road by Torn MacAlester

Morgan’s Road is a short story that I wrote a few years ago. It is not the first thing I ever wrote, but it is the first story that I decided to share with a broader audience. It is a fictionalized account of the discovery of water ice on the Moon. I imagined it as a tall tale that could be told around a camp-fire or in a typical tavern.

Check out the Morgan’s Road story here.

As part of my process of writing science fiction, I attempt to understand the science and technology behind the story. In fact, I have a science and technology element behind all my stories. Though I’ve pointed out that Morgan’s Road is about another element that is equally fascinating. You can read about it here.

This week’s discord chat

Week of Jan 8 2023 [8th at 1 PM EDT (6 PM GMT), 11th at 9 PM EDT (12th 2AM GMT)]

Torn discusses his short story Morgan’s Road Torn’s Discord Server Currently Reading

The New Frontiers Series, Book One: The Ship by Jack L. Knapp

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

The Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design — Revised and Expanded Edition by Alan C. Tribble

Lunar Sourcebook: a Users Guide to the Moon edited by Grant H. Heiken, David T. Vaniman, and Bevan M. French

Thunder Moon Tussle Trailer Thunder Moon Tussle by Torn MacAlester available on Amazon.com

Thunder Moon Tussle received a five star review

This Week’s Short Fiction by Torn MacAlester

This week, I offer a glimpse of a major character in Sins of the Son.

A new novel by Torn MacAlesterThe long awaited sequel to Thunder Moon Tussle : Mask of the Joyful Moon Coming SoonAcquisition of Technology

NASA’s (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) DART Mission is a demonstration of acquisition of technology necessary to ensure the survival of humanity. Last year, the successful kinetic intercept of an asteroid showed the feasibility of planetary defense.

You can read more about DART at the NASA press release:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-dart-mission-impact-changed-asteroid-s-motion-in-space

DART is a clever use of a double asteroid to measure the effect of the collision. A double asteroid is an asteroid that is orbited by a lower companion. Because the asteroids have such tiny mass, an impact on the smaller companion would affect its orbit the other in a noticeable way that is detectable over a shorter time scale. The orbits of the asteroids around each other over a short timescale, so a difference in that orbit will be easier to observe than an orbit that has been changed around the sun.

In the video below, Anton Petrov, discusses a new result explaining the unexpectedly large orbit change that has been detected.

The Kardashev Scale

https://futurism.com/the-kardashev-scale-type-i-ii-iii-iv-v-civilization

The Kardashev scale is a means of conveniently measuring the power output of a civilization. The scale traditionally has three levels, called I — planetary, II — stellar , & III — galactic.

A Type I civilization has a power output of approximately $10^{17}$ Watts. This is a factor of ten thousand times greater than the Earth civilization’s current power output of $10^{14}$ Watts.

The recent breakthrough with fusion power may put our civilization on track for becoming Type I sooner than without it. Check out my article on the Kardashev scale here.

Below, Michio Kaku comments on the the Kardashev scale and our trajectory to reach Type I within about a century.

Lunar Resources

https://www.herox.com/blog/954-what-resources-could-we-find-on-the-moon-here-are

Its not so outrageous as it seemed at first glance. The Moon has water in unusual places.

https://www.sciencealert.com/water-from-the-sun-has-been-found-on-the-moon

The solar wind is composed of mostly hydrogen. The rate of solar wind flow is $\inline 10^{-14} M_{\bigodot } yr^{-1}$ . That is the same as $\inline 4\times 10^{35}$ protons per second streaming away from the sun in all directions, or $\inline 2\times 10^{25}$ protons impacting the Moon’s surface per second.

Many lunar rocks are oxides, providing the source of oxygen. If every proton impacting the Moon’s surface turns into water molecules, then we have on order $\inline 10^{25}$ molecules or 200 grams of water being formed every second just below the Moon’s sunlit surface.

This water would be formed inside the rocks and regolith with a depth depending upon the incident energy of the protons.

Realistic Large Scale Space Construction

Interesting web page with large scale space structures and current technology readiness level (TRL) estimates:

https://www.factoriesinspace.com/large-space-structures

To date, the largest structure built in space is the International Space Station (ISS). ISS took over a decade to build and required over a decade to assemble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

The follow-on space stations that are expected to be built in the coming decade are all smaller but are expected to be commercial outposts.

https://www.space.com/nasa-commercial-space-station-rely-on-market-demand

But the really big space stations that could have there own spin gravity remain on the far horizon. Two examples are the Stanford Torus Space Settlement, and the O’Neill Cylinder.

Space Cities Out of Asteroids and Graphene Bags? Intriguing O’Neill Cylinder Study

Volcanos

Kilauea resumes eruption

https://apnews.com/article/volcanoes-kilauea-hawaii-climate-and-environment-0fd356cfa61a82c7977f88e428ae8200

Recently, both Volcanos on Hawaii’s big island stopped erupting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/mauna-loa-volcano-eruption.html

The Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption of last January continues to provide a wealth of new science. Volcanos continue to surprise us. And this eruption is no exception. In the article below, the authors explain how the eruption effected Earth’s ionosphere more than many solar storms.