RE: [SG2] [DS2] A list of questions on TOE and logistics

On Mon, 2 Nov 1998, Jim 'Jiji' Foster wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Nov 1998 12:50:25	 Thomas Barclay wrote:
> >Michael spake thusly upon matters weighty: 
> ></EXPOSE SELF AS SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERS SCIENCE.. MAYBE>
> >Isn't it possible that some fusion processes produce drinkable water 
> >as a byproduct and that therefore helps here a lot...
> ></EXPOSE SELF AS SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERS SCIENCE.. MAYBE>
> >
> >(I could be smoking rope.) 

man, that is some serious polypropylene you have there ...

> Actually, I think it's the hydrogen fuel cell, which basically 'burns'
> hydrogen and oxygen at very high efficiency, producing electricity and
> water. It's not a fusion process, as I understand it.

ka-tick. you could make water by fusion, but you'd need to stick about
32
hydrogens together to make each oxygen atom, and we don't currently have
any idea how to build a reactor like that. actually, we do; it's
something
like 'assemble a gazillion tonnes of hydrogen. put in one place. wait.'
but it's not terribly practical :-).

> 2300AD had these units as closed systems powering starships. The water
was
> reclaimed and 'cracked' by energy gathered in-system by solar panels.
> Then the resulting hydrogen/oxygen was re-used ad infinitum, so long
as
> a source of electricity to recharge the system was available.

as it is used now - space station / shuttle / whatever runs on solar
panels in light side of orbit and charges cells. runs off cells in dark
half.

> If one used a non-closed version of this system (scoop hydrogen and
other
> volatiles from gas giants, crack with solar power, use the water
that's
> the byproduct of 'burning' for consumption) it could be a decent
supply,
> but would it be the most efficient one?

where do you get the oxygen again? not all that much of it in top layers
of gas giants, iirc. not even co2. i could well be wrong here, it's a
while since i did xenogeology.

an easier way to get water in space would probably be to harpoon bergs
from the rings of gas giants. even jupiter has a fair amount. i think
this
came up a while back in the steam-powered spaceship thread.

> I'll leave that to the more knowledgable on this list.

no way! ignorance rules!

Tom