Re: If you went into outer space,what would you most want to bring with you and why ?
Erik Max Francis
> On May 28, 11:59 am, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>
>> I'm not familiar with "polytropes".
>
> They are a related series of solutions that are used to calculate how
> the pressure and density vary with radial position in a star.
> Essentially, here we have a very very low-mass "star" without a
> central heat source, so they might be useful in that regard.
>
>> Have you read Niven's "Smoke Ring" books?
>
> Yes. Great imagination with the biology, and the orbital physics, but
> i was never convinced about the mass flux through the torus.
> Especially since Gold must have had a very odd atmosphere to provide
> that much N & O with that little H & He (yes, H & He would leave
> faster, but if you build up a significant atmosphere of N & O, that's
> going to slow the process, etc.).
Yeah, that was the really implausible part when you sat down and thought
about it. Even if you make the argument that the heavier (breathable)
elements stick around and the lighter elements (not breathable) escape
the ring more quickly, there still should be a constant flux of the
non-breathable stuff through the breathable stuff making it, well, not
breathable. So you'd have to be talking about a gas giant that had all
its light elements stripped away -- but now you're not really talking
about a gas giant anymore. I don't recall whether one of the computer's
sidebars about Gold went into detail, so he might have sidestepped the
issue a bit; I'd have to check.
There were also some pretty big gaffes he made with the orbital
mechanics (he had the flavor right but the orbital periods were wrong
for the mass of Voy he gave -- and even that mass that he gave was
astrophysically unreasonable, as one wouldn't form that size).
Fun book, though.
[How dare my spell checker claim that it doesn't think _astrophysically_
is a word!]
--
Erik Max Francis && m...@alcyone.com && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 18 N 121 57 W && AIM/Y!M/Skype erikmaxfrancis
Because a bullet has no name / And sees no face
-- Skee-Lo