Video Throughput: 21 Spaceships And The Rule Of Cool

Michael Cain says:

1) I’ve always found the notion of transporting large bulk cargo between stars pretty ridiculous. Given the cost in energy, the notion of trading, say, wheat for apples is… just dumb. For far less energy you can provide a suitable environment to grow your own. The Millennium Falcon is a much more realistic sort of trade vehicle, carrying small enormously valuable things. The most obvious one is knowledge. Not a new idea, by any means. James Blish’s flying cities primarily traded information. Same for Norman Spinrad’s tradeships.

2) Smudges, dinged up edges,… sure. General dirt? A spaceship is a closed system most of the time. Recycling the air and water. Mold and mildew have been a significant problem in both MIR and the ISS. Heck, MIR had fungus growing on the outside of the craft. So much for the simple-minded approach in The Mote in God’s Eye where interior portions of the ship were sterilized by opening them to vacuum: mold, mildew, and fungus spores seem to survive that without much problem. What’s the mutation rate in space, and how soon before there’s a lethal variant fungus loose?Report