Read Online April 5: A Depth of Understanding by Mackey Chandler - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mackey Chandler
Ads: Link
different than Earth."
"I'm sure we'll have some native criminals. Some people are just born defective and the Assembly will have to deal with them. I'm just not sure how yet. You can hardly exile somebody who was born here. Where would we send them?" Gunny asked.
"Good question."
"You know I'm not having much trouble switching from Earth to Home. Most of it makes sense to me. I even elected to pay taxes so I can vote."
"Good, that's one more sensible voter we have."
Chapter 6
"Heather needed to get back to Central," Jeff told April on com. "She had a lunar flight connection last night and said to tell you goodbye. I have to stay here for now and work out some things with Dave for the guys doing the next snowball run. They are leasing some tech and we'll get a little money now and a small percentage down the line."
"How big a snowball do they want to bring back?"
"This one they are looking for something small, no more than a half million tons. Anything bigger would take too long to bring back. The cost of borrowed money for a longer trip adds so much expense they couldn't have gotten investors."
April had a sudden concern. "There's a company bringing one back right now. Is this new company going to undercut their price? Is that going to ruin the first guys?
"Every ton the first expedition will bring back was pre-sold. Just like this one will be. It's going to be a long time before supply catches up with demand, and yes, I expect every trip to get water will be cheaper as they refine the methods and know where to find the best size and density of ice to grab."
"So where are they going to park it?"
"They are going to put it near us, but as deep inside the Earth's shadow as they can make it, to hold station without eating up too much mass stabilizing it. They can't keep it in the umbra all the time, but they are going to work at minimizing the time it is sees any solar disk at all."
"Could they cover one side in something reflective?"
"It would cost too much. But they are going to mine it starting on the edges and reduce it from a sphere to a cylinder as they use it up. They think it can be kept end on to the sun as it is reduced. They may directly vacuum deposit a reflector on the end of the cylinder when it gets small enough."
"So they will just accept a certain amount of loss?"
"They're already doing that with the propulsion, bringing it back. They can only take so many plasma drives, so they are going to throw a lot of extra mass out at less than optimum velocity to get it back faster. They may use up eight to ten percent of it just getting it back. They'll accelerate all the way, but they aren't sure if they will try to flip it over to brake or just take the drives to the other end. It depends a lot on how stiff or slushy the ice is. If it seems too soft they might break it up trying to rotate it."
"When you start with a half million tons that still leaves a lot."
"When you figure what a ton of water costs to lift from Earth, it boggles the brain. I got us seven tenths of a percent share and I'll be happy if they recover half of it in the end," Jeff said.
April stopped and thought about it a minute. "A hundred and seventy five thousand kilograms of water?"
"A hundred and seventy five cubic meters," Jeff said smiling. "I'd still be very happy if we ended up with a hundred tons. Would you like a swimming pool in your lunar home?"
"You'd have to get it down to the surface. I'm sure we'll have better use for this water. But it isn't too crazy to think you could do that someday, is it?"
"Not at all. Maybe in ten or fifteen years, when there is steady traffic from the outer system. And if I get to build a lunar beanstalk we can take it down to Central cheaply with no loss. I figure the Earth tourists will just expect a nice pool in their hotel, don't you think?"
"And a chocolate mint on their pillow," April joked.
"If they can pay for putting it there, fine, and anything else they want. If we have to
"I'm sure we'll have some native criminals. Some people are just born defective and the Assembly will have to deal with them. I'm just not sure how yet. You can hardly exile somebody who was born here. Where would we send them?" Gunny asked.
"Good question."
"You know I'm not having much trouble switching from Earth to Home. Most of it makes sense to me. I even elected to pay taxes so I can vote."
"Good, that's one more sensible voter we have."
Chapter 6
"Heather needed to get back to Central," Jeff told April on com. "She had a lunar flight connection last night and said to tell you goodbye. I have to stay here for now and work out some things with Dave for the guys doing the next snowball run. They are leasing some tech and we'll get a little money now and a small percentage down the line."
"How big a snowball do they want to bring back?"
"This one they are looking for something small, no more than a half million tons. Anything bigger would take too long to bring back. The cost of borrowed money for a longer trip adds so much expense they couldn't have gotten investors."
April had a sudden concern. "There's a company bringing one back right now. Is this new company going to undercut their price? Is that going to ruin the first guys?
"Every ton the first expedition will bring back was pre-sold. Just like this one will be. It's going to be a long time before supply catches up with demand, and yes, I expect every trip to get water will be cheaper as they refine the methods and know where to find the best size and density of ice to grab."
"So where are they going to park it?"
"They are going to put it near us, but as deep inside the Earth's shadow as they can make it, to hold station without eating up too much mass stabilizing it. They can't keep it in the umbra all the time, but they are going to work at minimizing the time it is sees any solar disk at all."
"Could they cover one side in something reflective?"
"It would cost too much. But they are going to mine it starting on the edges and reduce it from a sphere to a cylinder as they use it up. They think it can be kept end on to the sun as it is reduced. They may directly vacuum deposit a reflector on the end of the cylinder when it gets small enough."
"So they will just accept a certain amount of loss?"
"They're already doing that with the propulsion, bringing it back. They can only take so many plasma drives, so they are going to throw a lot of extra mass out at less than optimum velocity to get it back faster. They may use up eight to ten percent of it just getting it back. They'll accelerate all the way, but they aren't sure if they will try to flip it over to brake or just take the drives to the other end. It depends a lot on how stiff or slushy the ice is. If it seems too soft they might break it up trying to rotate it."
"When you start with a half million tons that still leaves a lot."
"When you figure what a ton of water costs to lift from Earth, it boggles the brain. I got us seven tenths of a percent share and I'll be happy if they recover half of it in the end," Jeff said.
April stopped and thought about it a minute. "A hundred and seventy five thousand kilograms of water?"
"A hundred and seventy five cubic meters," Jeff said smiling. "I'd still be very happy if we ended up with a hundred tons. Would you like a swimming pool in your lunar home?"
"You'd have to get it down to the surface. I'm sure we'll have better use for this water. But it isn't too crazy to think you could do that someday, is it?"
"Not at all. Maybe in ten or fifteen years, when there is steady traffic from the outer system. And if I get to build a lunar beanstalk we can take it down to Central cheaply with no loss. I figure the Earth tourists will just expect a nice pool in their hotel, don't you think?"
"And a chocolate mint on their pillow," April joked.
"If they can pay for putting it there, fine, and anything else they want. If we have to
Similar Books
