Recent content by Ken Fabian

@DaveC426913 I thought SFFWorld did - a few years since I visited - but when I looked to check I didn't find it. I did visit a couple of others here and there. Now I don't know which forum I saw that. (I didn't make that up, I swear!.)

YASID - Yet Another Story ID - is common usage on forums dedicated to fiction, sometimes having its own dedicated thread.

Twisted fibre type ropes usually have three smaller twines (fibres twisted together) combined by twisting in the opposite direction - the smaller twines are initially overtwisted whilst under tension so that they provide a counter force that will wind the three together. The finished rope has a...

@AI_ It is possible that flywheel storage will emerge as the superior option; predicting the future is hard. Nuclear is high on the list of options, but may need improved versions that can be ramped up and down according to varying demand or else need storage to go with it, but less storage...

Wouldn't the Coriolis Effect for a person walking on the inside of a centrifuge be between head and feet? Or flying, between their axis side and perimeter side? (And dependent on circling the axis?) One of the Rama stories (1st?) had someone flying the axis in a person powered craft... and...

Which is not as much as I would have expected. Also I would expect higher 'dry' mass for a nuclear rocket, so less than twice for similar payloads, so not nearly as much gained by using them as comparing exhaust velocities suggest. Dry mass (is that the correct term?) is an issue for ion rockets...

I expect we will see mobile emergency power systems (big batteries) adopted by emergency services - oversized onboard batteries, 'slide on' or trailer mounted with the fast charging outlets and cables to deal with stuck EV's. Five minutes of fast charging per car might be enough. They could...

Good point about radiation shielding. Except I think that, along with the dire absence of commercially exploitable opportunities, it builds the case for NOT attempting any long term habitation on the moon and for making our future 'explorations' crewless. What are they going to be doing above...

I am doubtful anyone will build underground on the moon in the foreseeable future. I expect it to be an extraordinarily difficult challenge to attempt that kind of construction. Modular buildings on the surface with high grade insulation and active heating/cooling systems will be good enough...

Making anything complex and technically demanding out of moon resources is going to require large pre-investments in infrastructure and equipment. A whole lot of pre-planning and testing too; few factories doing novel things in difficult conditions work perfectly first go. Seems like in-situ...

This one might be my pick as one to hear Chris Squire as the master of electric bass. (Except for some of the others...

Going to The Klondike in search of riches that were confirmed to be there, so you can take some with you to live somewhere much nicer seems quite different and a lot more attractive to (mostly) young men with few prospects than highly skilled (with good prospects) people going to Mars at great...

My pessimism is mostly grounded in resources and economics, at both ends - Earth and 'colony' - but don't dismiss other concerns like human biological responses to low gravity (which, like most aspects, there can be solutions to, eg centrifuge habitats (spinning pie dish style?). Quotes around...

That was in reference to the difference between bases and colonies - not so clear with a quote of previous quote. I think the Earth economy could manage to build and supply a Mars or moon base - at great expense. Whilst some in-situ resources can help I don't think a local economy - a colony -...

Whereas I think they are vastly different - the difference between using the pre-existing resources and industrial capabilities of a globally connected Earth economy and the relying on hypothetical resources and industrial capabilities of a Mars settlement in isolation. We don't even know if...