Welcome to the Sunday Paper Club. Every Sunday, this blog will offer analysis of a paper on space habitation and other related topics. These are my opinions on a weekly scientific paper; basically I read the paper and write down my thoughts are I read it. They are subject to my perspectives and believes. I am open to debate, so if any reader believes I have misinterpreted something in a paper, please point it out. I'm only a student and I'm still learning how to read these papers and interpret them. All quotes are from the paper unless otherwise noted. All papers I review are available for free online.
This week we are reviewing the paper Space-Habitat Illuminators with Non-Imaging Optics.
One of the main designs of a orbital space habitat is the cylinder. It has this critical advantage of uniform gravity across the whole habitat of the cylinder rotates in space. But, lighting the habitat is a problem. Using the sun would not allow for a day-night cycle. So, this paper suggests moving the cylinder so the sun does not fall on the inside and using artificial lighting.
(Note: The paper, on page 3, mentions that the atmosphere on this cylinder would block cosmic rays. Sweet, but I have to check on this claim. I'm sure the Earth's magnetic field does most of the radiation shielding for the planet. However, our atmosphere does black UV radiation (before we got to it).)
Again, we run into the energy problem that every future, Macro-engineering project runs into. To artificially light this space habitat, this continent in space, it would take about "7E14 watts [,that is 700,000,000,000,000 watts,] a thousand times [the energy consumed by] the United States today". The paper suggests using this light system to make a water-cycle on the habitat. Maybe a steam machine could artificially produce the same effect, allowing for a lower intensity of lighting. This would make the system more realistic and make would eliminate the need for a anti-matter power-storage system.
Reactions
-Is the only thing holding humanity back energy?
-Is it worth sacrificing the sanity of the space inhabitants and get rid of the day-night cycle?
-Do you think humans need the day-night cycle to function?
