Thinking about the ones we can currently reach in game. Do people permanently live on them and raise families in them?
Fiction Outposts and Planetary bases
- Thread starter insanephoton
- Start date
As I recall there was a little discussion on this and they were more like the ISS today - crewed by rotating staff. There's no 'gravity' in the outposts due to lack of rotation, so probably not ideal for raising a family!
Cheers,
Drew.
I half suspected that with the outposts, though some of them do appear to have structures that look something like a centrifuges. The planetary bases are a slightly different thing as all of them will have some gravity. No doubt some of the smaller ones operate in a similar way. Would the larger planetary bases be the same or would they be more like town and cities?
Jenner
I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
There is no artificial gravity in the Elite universe.
Indeed. One of the many oddities of the ED universe. Despite being able to travel through hyperspace, exceed the speed of light and manage inertial effects within ships, the secret of generating artificial gravity has eluded the galaxy's best minds thus far...
Or (as I said on a podcast somewhere) somebody really just likes spinning space stations.
Cheers,
Drew.
To be fair, we already (as in today, for real) know more about FTL travel than about how gravity might work
The part about managing inertial effects is probably the biggest issue one should blissfully ignore to avoid emersion.With several centuries of space travel and hopefully huge advances in biology, especially genetics, I would assume that people are bred or modified to deal with prolonged stays in "abnormal" gravity, and also found other ways to combat the long-term effects. Our pilots can at least withstand a wider range of acceleration than they could today. Travellers within the bubble would still frequently seek out big stations or "earth-like" worlds, at least to pass the night, and those working in "off-gravity" places like planetary bases or orbital outposts would probably work in shifts like oil rig workers, returning to more suitable places for weeks or months at a time.
To be fair, we already (as in today, for real) know more about FTL travel than about how gravity might work
With several centuries of space travel and hopefully huge advances in biology, especially genetics, I would assume that people are bred or modified to deal with prolonged stays in "abnormal" gravity, and also found other ways to combat the long-term effects. Our pilots can at least withstand a wider range of acceleration than they could today. Travellers within the bubble would still frequently seek out big stations or "earth-like" worlds, at least to pass the night, and those working in "off-gravity" places like planetary bases or orbital outposts would probably work in shifts like oil rig workers, returning to more suitable places for weeks or months at a time.
I think genetics can go someway to dealing with the g-forces/zero-gee problems, but it can only go so far, there are real physical limits to what flesh and bone can withstand regardless of genes.
I agree that many environments will have rotating shifts, the oil rig analogy is a good one.Then again over a thousand years of technological progress puts us 21st denizens in the same situation as medieval scholars trying to explain the internet.
Cheers,
Drew.
I always figured the space-based crew and, especially, pilots are subject to extensive cybernetic modifications, in order to withstand prolonged exposure to zero-g environments and high-g stresses of space travel (and the sudden shifts between no gravity and rotational gravity, etc.).
It could also be true about denizens of planets with sub-optimal atmospheric pressure and composition -- there are terraformed planets out there with highly variable conditions; I always imagined that, for example, on planets with low oxygen content a cybernetic lung and parts of circulation system might be a standard augmentation.
Speaking of the subject -- does anyone know what is the official lore on cybernetic modifications in Elite?
It could also be true about denizens of planets with sub-optimal atmospheric pressure and composition -- there are terraformed planets out there with highly variable conditions; I always imagined that, for example, on planets with low oxygen content a cybernetic lung and parts of circulation system might be a standard augmentation.
Speaking of the subject -- does anyone know what is the official lore on cybernetic modifications in Elite?
Last edited:
Medieval scholars or 21st century politiciansThen again over a thousand years of technological progress puts us 21st denizens in the same situation as medieval scholars trying to explain the internet.
If crew have to outpost crew have to rotate out between shifts then:
a) What did they do before the relatively new invention of Frame Shift drives cut the commute time down to minutes rather than days?
b) How long can an explorer head out into the void before they have serious health concerns on their return?
a) What did they do before the relatively new invention of Frame Shift drives cut the commute time down to minutes rather than days?
b) How long can an explorer head out into the void before they have serious health concerns on their return?
Cybernetic mods would work for pilots, but I'm not sure it would be welcome for occasional passengers and tourists, we don't see much evidence of it in the artwork of people for example, though the capabilities of flightsuits aren't clear. The lore gives the overall impression that cybernetic mods aren't fashionable, perhaps because they're associated with menial work.
Cheers,
Drew.
- - - Updated - - -
A - Shipped in and out on slower ships I guess. The old stardreamer tech could have been used to pass the tedium.
B - Very good question. Most pilots are in zero-gee most of the time. Today that results in muscle decay and bone decalcification etc. These are likely to have been countered by 3300 in various ways I would imagine. So I don't think long term exposure is likely to be a problem. High gravity worlds would be tricker though. Whilst it's possible to land on worlds with 3G+, I can't imagine it's a pleasant experience!
Cheers,
Drew.
Last edited:
Like offshore oil rigs (which they look like). Two weeks on and two weeks off. And that shows how old I am.
Right, passengers. That was another… problem. Knowing how I fly, I wouldn't want to be a passenger on my ship in an open-plan cabin. I don't even think cabins as depicted would work, except for the Japanese Coffin Hotel economy stacks.
Haldeman had an interesting concept-[Latin, "with"]-plot-device approach to extended travel in The Forever War, where people would be packed into liquid and sedated until the ship had arrived at its destination, involving long times of strong acceleration. At the very least, you'd want them securely velcroed in a small and well-padded space, with some "recreational" volume that could be used during designated times of constant or no acceleration.
Haldeman had an interesting concept-[Latin, "with"]-plot-device approach to extended travel in The Forever War, where people would be packed into liquid and sedated until the ship had arrived at its destination, involving long times of strong acceleration. At the very least, you'd want them securely velcroed in a small and well-padded space, with some "recreational" volume that could be used during designated times of constant or no acceleration.
Last edited:
Although, I believe the precedent for neural chips tying individuals into the wider information networks was set in "Out of the Darkness," and the concealment of "prosthetic" hardware was set in another book that starts in "R" and ends in "eclamation." It probably wouldn't be too much of a leap to combine the two into a concealed cybernetic enhancement.
On the other hand if flight suits are anything like the battle suits described in "Out of the Darkness," cybernetics may not be necessary. OotD did imply the implants were pretty common, and that was 3275.
A solution between genemods and cybernetics could be nanomachines.
The space dwellers could inject themselves periodically with 'space vaccines' which are essentially a soup of nanobots dedicated to repair cellular damage from space radiation, mantain the density of the bones and fortifying the muscular fibers.
Such technology could be plausible on the context of the 33th century.
I think genetics can go someway to dealing with the g-forces/zero-gee problems, but it can only go so far, there are real physical limits to what flesh and bone can withstand regardless of genes.
Then again over a thousand years of technological progress puts us 21st denizens in the same situation as medieval scholars trying to explain the internet.
Cheers,
Drew.
Take a look at the "Expanse" book series. It has the best explanation I have seen in a science fiction book about how the human body can cope with high-g maneuvers.
Interesting on-topic TED talk I saw today : https://youtu.be/w8lH8tNlAXc