Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Nope. And since Fleckenzwerg still hasn't logged on since the 21st, I'd say we're go for timeßskipping.

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Right, then. Julia or Andrew have plans for the about 13 days till you get close?

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

I really have no idea what else I can do besides that. I'd have him surf the web if it was actually available. :D

Hm... 350 kelvin. That's pretty hot. That's too hot for simple living. (equivalent of 170 degrees fahrenheit or 76 degrees celsius)

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Yes. That's way hot. Something like a power plant would get you temperatures like that, since there are no radiators.

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Can we tell anything about the craft docked at this makeshift station? Their size, configuration, etc?

Oh, and does a search by Xerxes' NAI reveal any other examples of stations of this sort?

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

The ships are small. They're work drones and tugs. Capabilities would have to be determined by inspection. The tugs are probably capable of reaching the surface.

Shipping containers are often used this sort of improvised structure. They're a ready source of insulated pressure-tight space. And, in remote places, you end up with piles of them. You fill them with equipment, ship them to where you want the equipment, unload the equipment. There's little you're sending back, so there's not much point in spending the energy to move empties back. So people build things with them.

they're quite big. They're 20 meters long, and about 10 meters in the other two dimensions. The usable interior volume is 18mX8X8, or 1152 cubic meters. That's something about three times the volume of the house I live in.

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

How often would a station of this size have to be resupplied? I'm assuming it would have to be resupplied by a larger ship than the ones currently docked there. Oh, and the power plant: what's the lifespan of a typical power plant that would be used to provide heating, light, and life support for a station of this size?

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

It depends on what sort of life support it had. If it had a couple of the containers fitted with organic recycling and algae tanks, some plants and the like, it could support about 100 or 150 people as long as the power stayed on. That would require a few megawatts of power, which a small fusion power plant could provide, pretty much indefinitely. Other things, like reaction mass, would have to be imported, but there's enough ice in the ring system to make that fairly easy. Technology would have to be imported. How much they'd need depends on what they're doing. A scientific station could go years without needing resupply, though human factors would make it more often. A military base probably would need more often resupply.

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Okay thanks. I wish there was a way of telling if someone was aboard the station. With the darkness and lack of radio traffic it seems deserted, at least to me. I'd expect that if there were people aboard they'd be some sort of shift work going on, with somebody awake at all times, and I'd also expect them to have responded to the arrival of the ship. If they've scanned us would we be able to tell?

Re: [OOC] The Catacombs, hard SF
 

Most of the station is *cold*. There's nothing alive there.