Re: [OFFICIAL] Freighters/Merchants question....

Thinking about this, I can foresee some fairly serious design issues. 
The
biggest, is  how do you stop the string once you have it in motion?
Conservation of momentum is going to be a real thorny problem if you've
got
a string of containers a couple miles long let alone a couple of
hundred.
There might not be any gravity to worry about, but mass doesn't change
just
because your out of the atmosphere.

On top of that you have to make the string and it's components tough
enough
to protect the contents from radiation, space dust, and the odd meteor
strike.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, I'm just pointing out that compared to
a
single large container it has issues.

Bill

owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU wrote on 11/10/2004 06:25:13 PM:

> on 04.11.11 8:59 AM, Bill Brush wrote:
>
> > JMO, but I think interstellar freighters will be spheres unless
there's
a
> > technological reason they're not practical.  That gives you the most
volume
> > for the least surface area which means the least amount of
construction
> > materials needed to build it.
>
> Your comment on surface area:volume is certainly true, but it only
matters
> if there's some reason to put the cargo inside a hull. Endless strings
of
> containers is another possibility.