{"id":2116,"date":"2019-07-10T21:45:19","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2019-07-10T21:45:19","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:45:19","slug":"a-basic-introduction-to-the-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/2019\/07\/10\/a-basic-introduction-to-the-solar-system\/","title":{"rendered":"A basic introduction to the Solar System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Cover
Cover – Far from the Spaceports<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I needed to write a sort of general introduction to the solar system assumed by Far from the Spaceports<\/em> and its various sequels – the exact reason for this must wait for another day to reveal, but I found the exercise interesting in its own right. Most of the future facts are pretty obvious when you are immersed in the books, but it may be helpful to have them all summed up in a neat way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here it is: the future history of the solar system – or at least edited highlights thereof – spanning the next century or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solar system of the Far from the Spaceports<\/em> series<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The great breakthrough that allowed widespread human colonisation\nof the solar system was the development of a reliable high-performance ion\ndrive for spaceship propulsion. The first successful deployment of this\ntechnology in experimental form was in 1998, and successive improvements led to\nnear-complete adoption by around 2050. By the time of Far from the\nSpaceports<\/em> and the sequels, old-style chemical rockets are now only used\nfor shuttle service between a planet\u2019s surface and orbital docks, with the ion\ndrive taking over from orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
NEXT ion drive in operation (NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The great virtue of the ion drive is that it provides\ncontinual acceleration over a long period of time, rather than big delta-v changes\nat start and end of the journey followed by a long weightless coast period.\nThus, although the acceleration rate is very low, the end result is a much\nfaster trip than when using chemical rockets. With the kinds of engine available\nin the stories, a journey from Earth to the asteroid belt takes an average of\nthree weeks, the exact time depending on the relative orbital position of the\ntarget as compared to Earth. Longer journeys are more efficient if you avoid\nmaking interim stops \u2013 breaking a journey half way makes the travel time nearly\nhalf as long again as just going direct, because of the time wasted slowing\ndown and then speeding up again. As a result, trade or passenger routes typically\ngo straight from origin to destination, avoiding intermediate stopovers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At around the same time, artificially intelligent software\nreached a stage where the systems were generally accepted as authentic\nindividuals, with similar rights and opportunities to humans. Known as\npersonas, they are distinguished from simpler AI devices which are simply\nmachines without personality. Personas have gender and emotion as well as logic\nand algorithms. Slate is the persona who features most prominently in the early\nstories in the series. In terms of early 21st<\/sup> century AI development,\nSlate is a closer relative to digital assistants such as Alexa, Siri or Cortana,\nthan she is to humanoid robots. As a result, she can \u2013 with effort and care \u2013\nbe transferred into any sufficiently capable computer system if the need\narises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amazon
Amazon Dot – Active<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The first generation of personas to go out on general release were called the Stele class \u2013 Slate is one of these. About a decade later, around the time of The Authentication Key<\/em> (in progress), the Sapling class was released, and after another decade the Scribe class appeared. Steles are regarded as solid and reliable, while Saplings are more flighty, being prone to acting on impulse. Scribes are stricter and more literal. They first appear in The Liminal Zone<\/em> (in progress). There are plenty of sub-persona machines around, serving specific tasks which do not require high levels of flexibility of intelligence or awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar system colonisation has proceeded in a series of\nwaves, and at any time some habitats are flourishing while others have been\nleft behind the crest of the wave. The original motivation for settlement was\ntypically mining \u2013 bulk extraction of metals and minerals could be done more\ncheaply and with fewer political constraints away from Earth\u2019s surface. However,\nthere are many places which appeared at first sight to be profitable, but which\nsubsequently proved to be uncompetitive. Many settlements have had to rethink\ntheir purpose of being, and the kinds of industry or service they can offer. Very\noften, as you get to know a new place, you see the signs of this rethink \u2013\nperhaps an old warehouse or chemical extraction factory has been converted to a\nnew function such as accommodation or finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Phobos,
Phobos, NASA\/JPL<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A habitat is routinely called a dome, even though few are actually\ndome-shaped. Very often several units will be loosely connected by passageways\nor flexible tubes, as well as delving underground if the surface rocks permit.\nThe first stage of settlement was usually to deploy one or more giant three-D\nprinters to construct the habitat shells from native material. After that,\nindividual customisations have been added according to need, taste or whimsy. The\nbiggest single threat to a dome is typically some kind of fault or crack\nexposing the occupants to the surface environment of the planet, asteroid or\nmoon \u2013 normally this is quickly fatal. Hence each dome has its own set of rules\nfor managing this risk, which are very strictly enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no unified solar system political or economic authority.\nEach habitat manages its own internal affairs in broad alignment with its\ncurrent purpose for existence. Some are essentially puppet offices for large\ncorporations, others are scholarly or academic research stations, but most have\nachieved a degree of economic independence and are self-governing. It is generally\nbelieved that travel lags of a few weeks or months prevent effective government\nfrom elsewhere. Notions of political control are usually set aside because of\nthe constant need to cope with the many external hazards faced by anyone in a\nspaceship, or on the surface of an inhospitable planet or moon. Each habitat,\nthen, protects its own interests as it sees fit, including monitoring the\nvolume of space immediately nearby, and adopts a laissez-faire attitude to\nother habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alexa
Alexa Timing logo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Most habitats are culturally and racially mixed, and people\u2019s\nnames are often the most obvious memories of the Earthly heritage of their\nfamily. A few places, depending on the circumstances of their foundation, reflect\na particular single culture group. It can be difficult for outsiders to integrate\ninto these. But generally speaking, a person gets the reaction that their conduct\ndeserves, regardless of their place of family origin. It can be very difficult\nto recover from a bad impression created on first meeting. Conversely, a person\nwho shows that they are respectful of local customs, and have particular skills\nthat contribute to the life of the habitat, will find no difficulty fitting in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the world of Far from the Spaceports<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Artist’s impression – Dawn’s ion drive (NASA)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I needed to write a sort of general introduction to the solar system assumed by Far from the Spaceports and its various sequels – the exact reason for this must wait for another day to reveal, but I found the exercise interesting in its own right. Most of the future facts are pretty obvious when … Continue reading A basic introduction to the Solar System<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,39,41,20,50,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-extract","category-far-from-the-spaceports","category-science","category-science-fiction","category-the-liminal-zone","category-timing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2117,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions\/2117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardabbott.datascenesdev.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}