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#4101 2026-01-15 16:04:08
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
I think that I got them all
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#4102 2026-01-15 18:29:21
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut .... the new topic looks good! Thanks for the touchup!
Best wishes for success with the topic. It seems to me it has great potential.
It may take a while to build up steam, but eventually the idea of building a ** real ** Superdome on Mars is going to inspire wealthy corporations to make the plunge. The advertising value is probably incalculable.
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#4103 2026-01-17 16:11:19
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re update in OpenFOAM ... https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 94#p237294
Thanks for that ** very ** interesting report on oscillations in ion engines.
I was completely unaware of problems with that engine type, and appreciate your finding and showing that information,
You are probably aware of this but our readers may not be ... the ion engine and kbd512's Optical Plane design are competitors for future space missions. The ion engine has a ** very ** long start, and an accomplished track record. Never-the-less, kbd512's concept appears to have potential. A hybrid design is possible. In that case, the brute force of kbd512's concept would be balanced by the long-and-slow propulsion of an ion design, using the exact same photon collection system.
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#4104 2026-01-18 09:22:15
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re heat pump for Calliban's Dome... https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 25#p237325
Interesting! As a question for your AI friend... would this work with the massive Ziggurat layer around the dome?
In other words, if you place your tubing in the regolith as you pack it around the dome while building the wall, could it serve as an thermal exchange system without having to dig down into the material under the dome?
Calliban seems to spend worrying time more on cooling than on heating, so the ability to move thermal energy out of the habitat might prove useful.
Plus, if the regolith packed around the dome is heated, then the dome itself will not be losing thermal energy to the regolith as rapidly as otherwise would be the case.
I still think the right way to go is to build a light weight metal scaffolding inside the wall to hold fixtures like LED panels, and let the basalt wall carry the load of the radiation regolith piled above.
In any case, neat post on heat pumps.
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#4105 2026-01-18 11:39:28
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
A Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) system, involving a series of U-tube pipes connected in a closed-loop and drilled 50–200m deep, would be necessary to transfer heat between the habitat and the deep ground.
The ground loop is dug and the filled where you would like it so if you want the loop in the ziggurat structure it could be done on even beneath the entire structure the loop does not care where it is so long as its at a given depth to become a stable location of temperature gradient.
As far as something to hold internal items that are not load baring for the structure it depends on how much materials remains after the dome is built.
I gave you in the topic two different methods to get what we need one that costs power energy and one that uses waste radiated heating with less energy being used to achieve the goal.
The heat pump also give cooling while a separate cooling loop is required to supplement the waste heat system which increases resources that might not be present.
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#4106 2026-01-18 17:44:00
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut .... thanks for bringing the land making topic back into view from 2017...
You and Void are the only current members who participated in that series.
There's lots of dry land on Mars, but not much that Earth people would call "livable".
I'm hoping kbd512 will talk about the round ring torus habitat on Mars tonight.
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#4107 2026-01-18 17:47:16
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
Rather than shape more information of Basalt forming blocks from hard rock or from sands if site present as I included in the topics.
As 5 days plus for single blocks means we are not building very much for each processed batch.
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#4108 2026-01-18 18:57:02
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re neat post in OpenFOAM...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 66#p237366
I added that to the index for the topic.
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#4109 2026-01-19 07:36:32
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re links to history of submarines...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 91#p237391
Thanks for those links! That little poem about the kinds of men who served on those vessels is a nice take-away.
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#4110 2026-01-20 22:06:52
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re food at Mars...
This link might be worth investigating:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nas … 10653.html
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#4111 2026-01-21 18:20:02
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
WE will see 3 pothole in the next run due to duplicate topic.
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#4112 2026-01-21 18:50:33
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re #4111
Thanks for the head's up.
And! Congratulations on the impressive search results you showed us in
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 71#p237471
Naturally what you found is news to us, so it is good to know that kbd512 was not out on his own with his vision.
If you can find more please post it somewhere other than OpenFOAM. The OpenFOAM topic is intended to provide a tutorial for students using the OpenFOAM software.
We have a topic for the Optical Plane vessel.
I would like to point out that if someone's design does not match up with the existing Optical Plane design, the new design needs it's own topic.
Update: 278 and 279 in OpenFOAM should not be moved. They are now part of that topic.
Future posts about non-OpenFOAM activities can go into appropriate topics.
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#4113 2026-01-22 18:32:10
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re interesting post about heat loop on Mars.
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 93#p237493
Your AI friend seems to have understood that the temperature of the regolith a few meters down is a reliable number, well below the freezing point of water. In another topic, kbd512 added a post to one of Void's topics about use of SCO2 for a geothermal energy harvesting system.
Please ask your AI friend to design a heat pump system that will harvest planetary thermal energy on Mars.
I am hoping the idea is practical, because it would solve a lot of pesky problems. We humans are going to have to invest energy to live on Mars, so learning how to leverage our investment to harvest thermal energy from the planet itself seems to me like something well work pursuing.
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#4114 2026-01-23 10:11:29
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut ...
This may be of interest.... I noticed there was a registered user on the Image server, and I wondered who it might be. It turned to be a spider.
Plesae note the number of spammers knocking at the door, and the number of spammers maximum.
In total there are 751 users online :: 2 registered, 0 hidden and 749 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 4387 on Thu Jan 08, 2026 7:53 pmRegistered users: Baidu [Spider], tahanson43206
Legend: Administrators, Global moderators
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#4115 2026-01-23 22:10:19
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut ....
This is another interesting post by kbd512 that might fit well into at least one other topic:
http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 24#p237524
It doesn't seem to have much to do with harvesting geothermal energy, although it was clearly inspired by the idea of drilling to do so.
It seems to me the post makes a good case for above-ground construction, but I don't know where it wiould be a good fit.
I think that the ability to burrow is so essential that it would seem to me reasonable to just plan for it.
We would have to burrow into the walls of the crater for Calliban's Dome, for example.
The material for Calliban's ramps would have to come from the crater wall, which would be excavated to create rooms for living and for work and for storage.
***
Housekeeping ... OK ... I'll take this opportunity to offer best wishes for you and your family as the entire Nation deals with the current weather emergency. I went out shopping today ahead of the storm, and found the market packed in the middle of the afternoon on a work day. Folks here are taking the warnings seriously.
Meanwhile, I'm hearing reports of severe weather expected in Texas.
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#4116 2026-01-24 13:48:45
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re excavation topic: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 46#p237546
Thanks for addition of Elon Musk and Boring Company to the topic!
If you can find time, please see if there is any public informaiton about the nature of the boring equipment Musk is using.
The reason I ask is because it might work on Mars as is.
Or perhaps some adjustments are required. At this point all we know is that the machinery can did tunnels of substantial diameter in Earth regolith.
Earth has an atmosphere with oxygen. Does the machinery use any of that oxygen? I don't think we know.
The tailings have to be moved out of the excavated space. What tools are used for that?
Is the system automated? What maintenance is required, what is checked and what is changed?
Are lubricants used for the cutting operation?
Are lubricants used inside the machine?
Can the machine be shipped in sections that weigh less than 40 tons?
Thanks again for giving the new topic a boost.
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#4117 2026-01-24 15:12:31
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re very nice addition to Void's old topic:
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 53#p237553
It's fun seeing that old topic spring to life!
As I studied your diagram of tunnel shapes, it occurred to me that your other recent posts about the Boring Company suggest a circular bore might be quite likely at Mars.
I have asked kbd512 to consider possible use of SCO2 as a lubricant, since water seems unlikely to be available.
The circular shape implies a need to create a flat floor for habitats, so it might make sense to haul some of the excavated tailings back into the bore after the cutting machine has been removed.
In the case of a Crater wall, I can imagine planning cuts to go all the way through the crater wall so the machine can be removed and simply moved to a new bore location on the outside, with the goal of drilling back to the interior. In this way a Crater such as the one identified for Calliban's Dome, could become both the source of material for Calliban's Ziggurat ramp and the location of off-campus housing, work areas, and storage areas.
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#4118 2026-01-24 15:47:03
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re latest death in Minneapolis...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 56#p237556
The early reports I have seen are that the gent was standing in a crowd watching ICE.
An ICE agent approached this gent and pushed him. The gent's response was reasonable. He resisted being pushed.
The ICE agent apparently expected this gent to fall down and run away.
Because the gent resisted, the ICE agent called his friends and one of them shot him.
In an ordinary time, the agent and the entire group would be arrested for murder.
We are not in ordinary times.
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#4119 2026-01-25 09:35:47
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut .... re kbd512's new topic;..
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 81#p237581
SpaceNut .... you responded to the topic title. I am almost certain you did NOT read the long post by kbd512.
I didn't either, until I saw your multiple post reply.
It appears to me you have not attempted to answer kbd512's concerns about dependence upon others in a world occupied by evil.
For a brief time in human history, there seemed to be a chance that male aggression would not take over the planet, but that moment was brief.
Male aggression can only be dealt with in a way that is understandable to human males.
You yourself have spent many years in an industry dedicated to countering male aggression.
kbd512, GW Johnson and I have also spent years either in industry or in the military, with the primary mission being deterrence of male aggression.
In that context, the questions you asked about who would benefit by restoring the US ability to make things seem (to me at least) largely irrelevant.
The rich will always get richer, and the poor will subsist on whatever scraps the rich cast off as waste.
I don't see that reality changing any time soon.
In order for kbd512's vision to come to pass, millions of young American's would have to consciously make the decision to replicate what billions of Chinese and other Asians already manufacture.
The quality of leadership that would inspire such dedication on the part of young Americans may exist, but if it does, I don't see it.
The future seems to me to come down to the next few months.
Something has to happen in the aggression of Russia against Ukraine.
Something has to happen in Iran,
My guess is things will stabilize in Venezuela.
The next few months should definitely be interesting.
kbd512's new topic has the potential to show solutions, but both you and kbd512 seem to me to have started off with a long list of lamentations.
We don't need more lists of problems SpaceNut .... We need solutions, or at least hints of how solutions might be found,
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#4120 2026-01-25 12:07:28
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
First item is power or energy to whom?
We already know that business and residential are on different price rates, why?
How many home power system do you have past the portable power generators that are for temporary use, and what can be purchased with solar panels with batteries for that energy self sufficiency it is not as they have been priced out of reach?
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#4121 2026-01-25 14:28:10
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut .... your first post in 2004 showed exactly the same negative orientation as almost all your posts today.
The biggest problem with Hubble is not the repair but is when. The actual reason that anything is being done in the first place is that it will come down on our little heads if nothing is done.
With Nasa's budget constantly being stripped or lowered it makes it very hard to do anything but to maintain those programs that are already in the pipe line.
Hubble is definitely worth saving but there must be a limit to the cost. Also Nasa must always design into any probe that circles where ever. The ability for a clean deorbit if it wishes to have safety, or no contamination to the environments that these probes circle to not be impacted.
Look at that ... a list of problems and no solutions....
Over 20 years of listing problems and never once in all those years proposing a solution.(*)
This has ** got ** to change. It is one thing to hold negative views, but to post them frequently in other people's topics is a problem we need to address. Why would any one want to participate in a forum where the outlook is negative.
(*) I didn't try to read all 20,000+ messages. There might be ONE in that collection that is not negative.
OK ... to be fair, the post from 2004 ** did ** offer a recommendation for policy to plan for de-orbit. It was a general recommendation. Hubble probably had a de-orbit plan from the day it was launched. That would be good to know. It would take work to find out. Work would take time, and energy, and it might even involve spending some money for a stamp and stationery. Hubble is still flying. There is still time to find out what the de-orbit plan may be.
What I'm hoping you will do from now on is to ask yourself what you want to do when you create a post. What is the purpose of the post? Are you trying to warn readers of risks or dangers, or are you trying to alert them to opportunities? At the end of the post, how will your reader be feeling. Will the reader be uplifted and ready to resume the day with a bounce?
The purpose of this post was to report on your first post, and to offer suggestions for how we might change the experience for our readers.
What we can measure is participation in the forum. It seems to pick up when there is really interesting news going on.
What I'd like to see is steady boring posting about progress toward individual goals.
I'd also like to see steady, boring accumulation of knowledge. For example we have the ongoing need to remember the 3-5-8 rule for air mixture in Mars habitats and Large Ship on the way to and from Mars.
Mention of that topic often creates a most welcome dust up of alternative rules that Mars residents must remember.
3-5-8 will out last them all. And it will always generate a flurry of nearby formulations.
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#4122 2026-01-25 17:05:28
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re post about gasoline from air: https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 09#p237609
Bingo!
That is ** impressive ** ... members of this forum have written extensively about the combination of technologies to make this happen.
The producer of the system you showed us has achieved at an astonishing level, all (apparently) in the Capitalist System (although there may be some contributions from tax payers since this would have been a business investment, research costs of which are deductible).
The team that achieved that result had outstanding leadership.
The individual members of the team had to have performed at a very high level indeed.
This company is a candidate for a book on how the Capitalist System can work.
Someone had vision, but a ** lot ** of people have vision. It was the many steps from vision to product that distinguish this group from the visionaries.
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#4123 Yesterday 12:22:11
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut re post on kbd512's ring habitat...
http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 47#p237647
Thanks for finding and showing that hint about SpaceX more spacious accommodation for travelers.
For kbd512's habitat, I think we should be thinking of long term comfort. Those 1000 people kbd512 is going to shelter will need lots of space. There will eventually be kids in that volume, so it needs to be spacious.
I haven't read the paper you linked, but I'm hoping it is leading in the direction of spacious quarters.
I think a good model for scale is a motel, but not an economy one. This is NOT a time to be limited in thinking.
Mars has plenty of raw material to be shaped into comfortable quarters, so I hope you will lean toward spacious comfort and away from cramped economy.
It may be a good time to remind everyone, participants and readers alike.... this is NOT a NASA project.
This is the Capitalist System at work.
We are NOT building something that government bureaucrats requested, as might be the case for a military base.
We ARE working on a decent quality long term living situation where people would actually pay good money to live for six Earth months or longer.
RobertDyck has cited Earthly ocean going ships as examples to study. Some people actually live on such ships for years at a time, but they are free to walk out on the deck where the open ocean is all to be seen, along with the wide open sky.
The habitat you are helping kbd512 to design is NOT going to have ** anything ** open to the environment, and that environment is going to be deadly on both the short term and the long term.
Speaking of RobertDyck ... he has published some of an architectural study in which he took part. As I recall the images, there was plenty of space provided for residents and visitors.
The structure you are helping kbd512 to design needs to be like that. Safe and comfortable, but uplifting to the spirits as well. How you and kbd512 will achieve that I don't know, but what I ** do ** know is that the customers who will pay good money to live in this habitat will be looking for it.
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#4124 Yesterday 13:00:26
- tahanson43206
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Re: Housekeeping
For SpaceNut ....
Please be brave to post in the topic
That is language that reveals you do not understand why an administrator would write to a member in a special topic used only by that member.
The topic needs to flow from top to bottom with valuable content, such as what you are providing.
A few days ago Void made similar comments, indicating he too did not understand the reason for keeping the ID of an administrator out of a topic.
I just checked to be sure and the topic was created by tahanson43206. I am happy to see contributions by other members, and do not need to put my ID into the topic when others are contributing.
In contrast, OpenFOAM is a planned topic that is intended to provide educational opportunities. It is available for contributions by members, and occasionally members do participate, but the flow is intended to help a student or someone doing self-directed study.
My basic rule of thumb in these situations is to keep my ID out of the Active list, if the topic belongs to someone else.
In this case, the topic was created by tahanson43206, so your decision to place my content into the topic shows that you have decided specific content must go into the topic. You are the Senior Administrator, so your decisions override that of members.
Bravery is a curious term to use for an effort to try to expose the writings of others to the readership.
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#4125 Yesterday 13:24:23
- SpaceNut
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Re: Housekeeping
The topics are discussion topics not special ones which require discussion "Communications" / opinions to take place in discussions not in special those are the wiki that are created....
So wiki or project titles in the respective folder for them for the topic as such as I have done.
Indicate that its not a discussion topic as I did.
Whether we are admin or not does not give a difference in discussion.
Absolutely none...
We are not a publishing house of finished papers
Topics without discussion are echo chamber
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