Monday, October 20, 2008

'A Fearsome Heritage' by John Schofield and Wayne Cocroft (eds)

Alice Gorman and Beth O'Leary have a paper in this collection! (An ideological vacuum: the Cold War in outer space).

I wonder if it's really appropriate for a paper on space heritage to be in the One World series?

A Fearsome Heritage: Diverse Legacies of the Cold War, John Schofield and Wayne Cocroft (eds)

From massive nuclear test sites to the more subtle material realities of everyday life, the influence of the Cold War on modern culture has been profound and global. A Fearsome Heritage unites innovative work on the interpretation and management of Cold War heritage from fields including archaeology, history, art and architecture, and cultural studies. Contributors understand material culture in its broadest sense, examining objects in outer space, domestic space, landscapes, and artistic spaces. They tackle interpretive challenges and controversies, including in museum exhibits, heritage sites, archaeological sites, and other historic and public venues.

With over 150 color photos and illustrations, including a photographic essay, readers can feel the profound visual impact of this material culture.

Monday, October 13, 2008

'Dead in Space' by Alice Gorman

Didn't notice who wrote this until Alice mentioned this on her blog.

Monday, October 6, 2008

'Effects Of Collisions Upon A Partial Dyson Sphere' by Robert L. DeBiase

Dyson Spheres are hypothetical structures built by advanced civilizations, generally for the purpose of habitation, which capture a significant portion of the output of their star. Searches for Dyson spheres and partial Dyson spheres have been unsuccessful so far. Could it be that there are diminishing returns for expanding the space settlement architecture too far? Explored will be the effects of collisions with meteoric material as a limiting factor to the expansion of a system of space habitats into a Dyson sphere or partial Dyson sphere. Estimates of collisions are based upon datasets used by workshops on the hazards of near Earth objects in the early nineteen nineties as well as a workshop on space settlements conducted in the mid seventies. These datasets are then extrapolated to predict frequency of impacts of various sized impactors upon a system of space habitats making up a partial Dyson sphere. Results show that these systems of habitats, even small ones, are vulnerable to much smaller sized impactors than are planets such as Earth. The primary consequence for SETI is a disincentive to build Dyson Spheres consisting of a system of space habitats too large, partially explaining perhaps their apparent lack of detection. On the other hand, any Dyson Sphere of significance will require collision avoidance strategies that may include radar systems much greater than what might be expected for a planetary based civilization.

Available Here