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Seven hundred years post Martian settlement a vast economy thrives in and among the moons of Jupiter and Saturn ...
Among the moons of Jupiter and Saturn the Martian terraforming program has left legacy: a sprawling archipelago of island stations and industrialized moons, Bernal Sphere's and O'Neill Cylinders, Spindle and Wheel cities, and a population of humanity growing into the millions. Trade is the lifeblood of these independent city-states. Entire generations are born and live their lives in spinning cylinders, bubbles, and torus shaped habitats, harvesting, mining, and fabricating all they need from the environment of the outer solar system.
Ice mining flourishes, trade in volatiles, water, hydrogen, oxygen, and CHON from Mars and asteroidal sources, petrochemicals from Saturn's moon Titan, these are the backbone of the Outer System economy.
Orion and Medusa style nuclear pulse freighters haul payloads of raw materials across interplanetary distances, while nuclear orbital transfer vehicles (OTV’s) provide light freight and passenger service between space habitats in Jupiter and Saturn orbit.
The System States era represents the advent of humanity as a true space faring civilization.
This is the stage, the backdrop, and the players … Earth, the Martians and the System States.
Alliance Earth, a humanity poisoned by a constantly favored envy. The legacy of Sinclair's grand ruse sits bitter, and the masters of Earth delude themselves to believe that what the Martian's forged with generations of labor is theirs by right.
Mars ... a living world brought into being through the application of science, won by generations of effort.
The System States ... man set free from the planetary environment.
A war is coming, and there is nothing to stop it.
And one more …
Somewhere, somehow, in amongst the myriad computer systems located across the breadth of the solar system, among the links and interstices of the network, something new, something surprising … has come into being. A growing awareness, a consciousness … an influence which emerges as subtle ghostly manipulations, the patterns of which are not readily noticeable, leaving but the barest traces here and there …
And far from the center of attention, at the very edge of the solar system, a tiny vessel, an intruder from elsewhere, falls sun ward out of the night.
Everything is about to change.
Among the moons of Jupiter and Saturn the Martian terraforming program has left legacy: a sprawling archipelago of island stations and industrialized moons, Bernal Sphere's and O'Neill Cylinders, Spindle and Wheel cities, and a population of humanity growing into the millions. Trade is the lifeblood of these independent city-states. Entire generations are born and live their lives in spinning cylinders, bubbles, and torus shaped habitats, harvesting, mining, and fabricating all they need from the environment of the outer solar system.
Ice mining flourishes, trade in volatiles, water, hydrogen, oxygen, and CHON from Mars and asteroidal sources, petrochemicals from Saturn's moon Titan, these are the backbone of the Outer System economy.
Orion and Medusa style nuclear pulse freighters haul payloads of raw materials across interplanetary distances, while nuclear orbital transfer vehicles (OTV’s) provide light freight and passenger service between space habitats in Jupiter and Saturn orbit.
The System States era represents the advent of humanity as a true space faring civilization.
This is the stage, the backdrop, and the players … Earth, the Martians and the System States.
Alliance Earth, a humanity poisoned by a constantly favored envy. The legacy of Sinclair's grand ruse sits bitter, and the masters of Earth delude themselves to believe that what the Martian's forged with generations of labor is theirs by right.
Mars ... a living world brought into being through the application of science, won by generations of effort.
The System States ... man set free from the planetary environment.
A war is coming, and there is nothing to stop it.
And one more …
Somewhere, somehow, in amongst the myriad computer systems located across the breadth of the solar system, among the links and interstices of the network, something new, something surprising … has come into being. A growing awareness, a consciousness … an influence which emerges as subtle ghostly manipulations, the patterns of which are not readily noticeable, leaving but the barest traces here and there …
And far from the center of attention, at the very edge of the solar system, a tiny vessel, an intruder from elsewhere, falls sun ward out of the night.
Everything is about to change.
SpaceX Return to Flight -Iridium Flight 1
SpaceX returns to flight with a picture perfect launch and first stage landing on the autonomous drone ship "Just Read The Instructions."
Today's launch lofted 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit on the first flight for Iridium of a planned 8 launches.
Today's successful landing marks the first Falcon 9 to touch down on drone ship "Just Read The Instructions." and the seventh successful Falcon 9 first stage landing.
Project Orion The USAF Plan 1962
Dr. Brent Ziarnick, Major, USAFR, gives an excellent talk on Orion and the role it might have played as part of the US strategic nuclear forces.
The engineering and physics side of nuclear pulse propulsion has been covered in great detail through declassified documents such as the General Atomics report on Orion, which can be found here: GA-5009 vol III "Nuclear Pulse Space Vehicle Study Conceptual Vehicle Design" and George Dyson's book,* which is an essential study guide to Orion, detail on the USAF side of Project Orion is still emerging. This video provides an in depth look at the scope of those plans.
*George Dyson's book can be found
National Geographic: Mars
This is a good watch, near future hard SF with well placed documentary style interviews. The first episode streams free at the National Geographic site linked, and can also be found on Hulu.
Video at the link: Mars: Novo Mundo
Constellation Program NTR Mars Mission Animation
Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0
The other day my friend f r a g o m a t i k shared this link to a stunning video animation of the (canceled) Constellation program nuclear thermal Mars mission.
The nine minute long animation depicts NASA Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 Constellation program 7-launch nuclear thermal Mars mission strategy.
You can download the PDF here: Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0
View the animation here: Mars Mission animation
Abstract
DRA 5.0 features a long surface stay “split mission” using separate cargo and crewed Mars transfe
© 2013 - 2023 William-Black
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Wow, that was really good. A great dramatic summary. If the System States Era was a novel series and the above was on the back cover, I buy it in a heartbeat.