james_davis_nicoll (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2007-10-21 12:27 pm
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2007-10-21 12:27 pm
This is not in reference to any one book that I read in the recent past
Because it's not unique to any one book that I read in the recent past:
Suppose that we have a space habitat that looks like this.
To get the largest area at the optimum gravity, h is the zero-gee axis. Unfortunately, left to itself, the cylinder will eventually end up with r as the zero-gee axis. A space habitat in the form of a long, thin cylinder therefore requires more maintainance than would some other more stable configuration.
Aside from Ing's Spinquake (? Is that the title?), the sabotage in The Revolution from Rosinante and some parts of The Two Faces of Tomorrow detailing why million tonne spin decouplers can be dicey, has anyone ever used the potential failure modes of a spinning habitat for dramatic effect?
Suppose that we have a space habitat that looks like this.
To get the largest area at the optimum gravity, h is the zero-gee axis. Unfortunately, left to itself, the cylinder will eventually end up with r as the zero-gee axis. A space habitat in the form of a long, thin cylinder therefore requires more maintainance than would some other more stable configuration.
Aside from Ing's Spinquake (? Is that the title?), the sabotage in The Revolution from Rosinante and some parts of The Two Faces of Tomorrow detailing why million tonne spin decouplers can be dicey, has anyone ever used the potential failure modes of a spinning habitat for dramatic effect?