How It's Gonna Happen

[flaugher]

I KNOW this thing is going to happen ... someday. I hope it's fairly soon. WHEN the technology for a 1-G spacecraft dawns, events will probably move quickly.

Everyone knows that even space is all about Capitalism. As with all the follow-on to major discoveries and ventures of the past, what happens in the long run will depend on profitability.

In the days of wooden ships, there were probably many who thought we'd never see large cruise liners filled with vacationers sailing into Purdhoe Bay, Alaska. Yet here we are today with thousands of such ships in all oceans of the world.

I suspect that once we have 1-G spaceships, family vacations to see the rings of Saturn will be commonplace within a few decades. I think that once this technology is released, financial forces will drive it forward at a rate that will surprise everyone.

One question is the issue of precious metals. Will we perhaps discover large and economically exploitable deposits of nickel, gold, or other ores on planets/moons/asteroids that will drive the system? Who knows. As Bugs Bunny used to say, "Eh, it's a possibility!"

 

[flaugher]

So will there be Space Police in the days of 1-G travel? Well, there are going to have to be rules, mostly for people's own protection and to keep competitors on fair ground, and so there are going to have to be people who enforce the rules. 1-G travel will NOT change humanity overnight.

Space Police will likely work together with Space Traffic Controllers (someone else we will HAVE to have). Both will be required to build the public's confidence in the safety of space travel. Police will need to know who is where, what their status is, whether or not they have anything dangerous on board, etc., etc., etc. And of course there will be liability issues for those carrying passengers and valued cargo, so there will HAVE to be investigators.

Space pirates? Sure, I could see that happening. With 1-G travel, it could be possible for pirates to catch up with and board a ship long before police could do the same. The question would be, where do they then go? How do they get away with their ship or their booty? How do you hide in space? We would likely see more "hostage" situations rather than outright theft of a whole spaceship or massive cargo. As with all things new, crime in space is something we will just have to watch and see what develops.

As for weaponry in space, I wish that were not an issue but surely it will be. Of course you don't have to have a nuke in space; just something that can knock a hole in a hull or disable a set of engines.

 

[flaugher]

Today we have good people working for NASA, NOAA and the Space Command who keep us updated on space conditions that might affect the space station, shuttle runs, and of course expensive satellites in orbit. Space weather has been a significant concern since the day when Skylab was brought down by a then-unexpected swelling of our planet's atmosphere during high solar activity.

One of the concerns that gave us the Stereo project was the question of when to put GEO satellites into "protection" modes. Shut your satellite down too often and the competition will eat you alive.

Traveling in space, once we have 1-G spaceships everywhere, will pose whole new "forecasting" issues. Is that CME going to cross C412DL's path to Jupiter? Do we need to slow them down or speed them up? Surely no cruise captain wants to go to reduce speed to 0.9-G or accelerate to 1.2-G unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Imagine a 240-pound woman on a trip to Titan who suddenly starts to weight 310! She will NOT be amused.

My guess is that everywhere we establish rescue and repair stations, and police stations, and hospital care centers, we will also have space weather forecasters or at least their instruments. I can also see a lot of instrumentation being located at extreme distances. This will probably be an industry that will blossom into something really big, in time. :speakcool:

 

[willy88]

Err, what exactly are these "1-G" spacecraft?