Mining the Moon - Pt. 2

[Staiduk]

Part 1 is here.


I'll say this for Intersolar - they don't skimp on off-world bases. There are currently 6 "colonies" on the Moon; each belonging to mining/low-G development corporations and consortiums.

Lunar One is owned by Star Petrochemical out at Fra Mauro. They mainly do work in low-G development and refinement techniques in the plastics industry. Good for them - it's a messy business; but there's no atmosphere to pollute on the Moon; waste is simply reclaimed or shot into the Sun.

AgriFutures Inc. has New Iowa at Mare Nectaris - it's a massive underground complex developing underground farming techniques. They produce amazing yields under low-G hydroponic conditions - they'll almost certainly be the major food supplier once colonization really takes hold up here.

Heinlein Base is of course owned by 3M; down at Mare Tranquilitatis. Underground mineral/chemical processing; but they've also got a pretty good tourism industry going at Armstrong Park. They couldn't take over Tranquility Base itself; it's a historical site, but they run regular tours out there. I did the tour a few years back - seeing the Eagle's descent stage still sitting there, untouched, sends a shiver up the spine. It's amazing what they did way back then with the technology of the day.

IAC owns the King Charles Memorial telescope complex; a colossal VLA array of radio telescopes on farside. Not much out there; but they seem to like it.

Sun City was built by Energy Holdings Inc. It's a solar farm ten thousand hectares across. Solar power is collected and beamed to the Sunflower satellite reciever in low Earth orbit; and from there to the planet. Powers most of central and eastern Canada; from Manitoba to Labrador.

Finally, Brighton Beach is owned and operated by Intersolar; up on the south 'coast' of Sinus Roris. It's primary purpose is low-G refinenment, processing and manufacture; its second goal is expansion.
No question; Brighton Beach is big; it houses twenty thousand in underfround comfort. The only things aboveground are the Intersolar offices; insanely expensive condos, the raw resource monorail and of course the landing field - 6 pads; only Heinlein has more with 7.
It's a comfortable place to spend time as well;

[Staiduk]

Anyway; back to the story.
Refuelling at Waypoint One (W-1) is a quick, simple task. Normally; pilot and passengers can drift into the station's recieving module for a little stretch and change of scenery - it's just a tin can; but larger than the DGIII's passenger compartment. This generally lasts for a couple of hours while we wait for the orbit to take us into position to align for the Moon's orbit.

This time; however, time was short. By the time we docked; we had just over thirty minutes to refuel and undock from the station. Company rules demand that an alignment burn begins no closer than 1000 meters from any station - a wise precaution. Even travelling cautiously; it takes about 5 minutes to move 1 Km. away; so total dock time was to be less than twenty minutes.

After docking I matched pressures and opened the airlock; then drifted down from the flight deck into the airlock to manually check the refuel fittings. Once connection was complete; I started the pumps and turned off the Seatbelts light; allowing my 4 charges freedom to move about.

Geez; I really wish I could just keep them belted into their seats for the entire journey; passengers are a pain. I was immediately smothered by questions, complaints and comments about what could be done better. OK; I should really show some sympathy; after all; they're not exactly at their best - if you're not used to it space travel can be decidedly hard on the stomach; my passengers were distinctly green-faced and therefore not in very good moods. I had to point out to them - calmly, that is - that:

[jordonj]

How long did you spend practicing this?

[Iroquois]

Orbiter is a great sim but it requires a lot of complex math like calculus (which I was never good at) to operate. Nice shots. Is that the default Delta Glider? Somebody redid it. The new one is really fantastic.
http://orbiter.dansteph.com/

There's no word on Orbiter 4's release date but I hear it's going to have DVCs.

[Staiduk]

If I want to go easy on fuel; I can get us to the Moon in three days. That would use less than ten per cent of the Weasle's fuel though; and 3 days is a long time. By burning later and longer; I can get us there in just under two days; with a screamingly fast orbit that would whip us right past the moon and into deep space if anything happened. The burn was very long; using over a quarter of our onboard fuel.

Then came the hard part - the long wait and drift until arrival in the Lunar vicinity. Without passengers; it's a perfect time to relax and reflect; and to prepare for the mission. With passengers - whining, queasy, bored passengers - it can be a nightmare.

Boxes of Gravol and a Cribbage board are considered essential equipment on passenger runs.

[Staiduk]

How long did you spend practicing this?

What - the flight? None really; though I've been flying the Earth-Moon run in Orbiter for a couple of years; I've got flying the DGIII down cold.

Orbiter is a great sim but it requires a lot of complex math like calculus (which I was never good at) to operate. Nice shots. Is that the default Delta Glider? Somebody redid it. The new one is really fantastic.
http://orbiter.dansteph.com/

There's no word on Orbiter 4's release date but I hear it's going to have DVCs.

Yes; this is Dan Steph's new Delta Glider 3. Glorious bird to fly; let me tell you!

[jordonj]

Is orbiter freeware?

Also, how far out can you go in it?

[Staiduk]

Is orbiter freeware?

Also, how far out can you go in it?

Yup - totally free.

As for how far; there's no limits - you can cruise the entire Solar System; to the nearest star; whatever - just be prepared for a loooooooooooooong flight if you want to try that one.

[jordonj]

mmm...

How easy is it to set up?

[Iroquois]

Yup - totally free.

As for how far; there's no limits - you can cruise the entire Solar System; to the nearest star; whatever - just be prepared for a loooooooooooooong flight if you want to try that one.

Unfortunately the speed of light is the absolute barrier in Orbiter. There are addons that approach it. These are very hard to control though.

[Staiduk]

mmm...

How easy is it to set up?

Not hard; though a bit more detailed than other games.
Orbiter itself is soundless for instance; there are sound packages available from other developers. You've got to go around and collect all the right parts.

I recommend the following: Go to the Orbiter site and download the sim; follow the directions carefully.
Then (it'll tell you this) go to Dan Steph's site and get the sound package - follow the directions to set it up.

Then go back to Dan Steph's site and get the DGIII - that's the spacecraft in this story. It's by far the best of the Orbiter spaceships. Set it up and fly away - Orbiter's got a pretty steep learning curve; but once you get the basics of orbital manoeuvering down, it's quite simple to get around.

There's also a bunch of excellent tutorials available - links on the Orbiter links page.

[lemoncat]

i must say it looks and sounds great...but i don't think iv'e got the time to visit pluto..lol

[ATI_7500]

"Giant steps are what you take,walking on the moon.
I hope my legs don't brake, walking on the moon."

[Staiduk]

i must say it looks and sounds great...but i don't think iv'e got the time to visit pluto..lol

I've been as far as Saturn myself - a bloody long trip; even with time sped up 10,000 times it took hours. I might try a trip to Pluto one day; though the scenery ain't going to be much.
Scenery-wise; Saturnd was definitely worth it!