Space Elevators - how they would come about

Basics

1. First comes the Economic Incentives, the space industry with 100x the investment we currently have in it - because the Technology it produces makes up a good chunk of the infrastructure and commodities will have to happen first.
The global space economy, valued at around 423.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, includes a range of activities involved in the researching, exploring, and utilization of space. There are several ways the industry can be divided for analysis, all of which have some overlap. 
423B x 100 = 42.300T (the vacuum airships, RAM jet reusable LEO rockets, and the sky hook will happen first at probably 1 magnitude lower).
2. That would mean there would be Spin Habitat Stations already orbititing that will serve as an Anchor. They will build the MINIMUM height that can grow. They'll probably begin with a 600KM distance (LEO) instead of a 36K km with the Counterweight Station having ROCKETS to add 𝚫V when there is loss due to Thermospheric Drag. 
3. The tether cable will be made of the strongest material we can make given the Infancy of the Space Industry. Basically, the Spin Hab, Captured Near-Earth Asteroids, and the Moon bases that manufacture materials will probably determine the materials. 
1. The IMPORTANCE of Microgravity Manufacturing is the creation of 3d space nano structures (see ORgan 3d Printing in Space) - this applies to making Materials we have here on Earth Self-organize in a way that We will design a stronger structure that gravity will not influence - the way pyramids are designed purely on a Gravity function but Sky scrapers with our Human Design allows far greater structures.  
2. One of the most important things to understand about Microgravity Manufacturing is that Engineers want to control how Structures in the atomic level organize. 
4. So you will see a Space Station slowly descending its tether cable down - manufacturing a KM or so every quarter or a year for a multi-Decade project - countries Investing so that the total Cost of the Space Elevator will be smaller for their usage cost. 
5. There will be a Receptacle to Catch it and it will climb from the equatorial and there will be several tries with Vacuum Airships extending stabilizing the cable.
6. Definitely, there will be multiple (4) Ongoing Space Elevators set by US-USAN,  ASEAN+Japan+ANZ alliance,  China & Africa Group, and India and Middle East Space Alliance. 
7. Probably the 2,000usd per KG to LEO will change as VACUUM Airships and Reusable RAM jets come reducing this by 1/2 to 1/4 as Safety and Efficiency can drive the price UP as well. Space Elevators will be priced against Vacuum Airships and Reusable Jet-Rockets at probably hundreds of USD per KG. Vacuum Airships and Fan WING electric Jets will drive the price of flight per KG lower but reduce the KM per KG per USD.  
1. 2100s will have the FIRST space elevator online. In the following decades, the others will follow. 
8. As a SPINE, the Elevator grows and gains investments and Height as the microgravity manufacturing improves by huge leaps and bounds as more SPIN habs go online and a more regular workforce is established. Eventually, entire Kiloton Ships can be RAISED from the elevator assisted by Vacuum Airships. 

Help support us by Buying Mneme Variant Combat Rules 

The current Project is a Hard Scifi Cepheus Engine Compatible Setting inspired by Daniel Suarez Delta-V, Artemis and the Martian by Andy Weir, Expanse, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Making adventures in the Near Future - 2050+ based on my work experience in a Developing Country (Philippines) and how the world will be very different and much the same. 

Hard Scifi Heroes: Technical Challenges and Overcoming Hazards

I can feel Chris Hadfields frustration that the public doesn't appreciate "Heroic Problem Solvers". That violence is the only narrative of heroism and watching this interview makes me realize I have to figure out more ways to people feel GREAT and heroes Solving problems instead of violent catharsis.   

1. His concerns about how professional and situation-awareness and serious Spacers are duly noted. I can break this down into the following:
1. Task-Oriented  - the mindfulness and awareness of the Job and its Dangers.
2. They PREPARE and perform due diligence. The concern was why did they goof around when spacers have to suffer so much and permanent damage to their bodies in space. 
2. The Ingenuity and the personality of being able to adapt, learn, make mistakes, etc... Some personalities cannot be corrected without seeing correction as a Hostile Act. There is a very very different kind of Human mindset to really work together and be able to deal with problems and not lose focus. 
3. The Great DETECTIVE hunt of problem-solving - everyday sleuthing. The intelligence and presence of mind to recall tried and true techniques BUT rapidly iterate them to their more sophisticated displays and demonstration as they quickly search for a solution to an elusive problem. 
4. GMs or Players can create an Atmosphere of Task-Oriented and Work-Humility-Optimism that can make technical challenges interesting and amazing. It's not IMPOSSIBLE, this problem can be approached by the SAME VIRTUES we hope to emulate - BEST OF ALL: WE CAN PRETEND to be Task-Oriented, Great-Focus, and Professionalism. My favorite part about TRPGS is pretending until it seems I've stopped pretending and actually get glimpses of being what I hope to be. 
5. First Man. He points out why everyone is so sad. Professional people with good EQ make work engaging, fulfilling, and Fun. People crack jokes, they understand the scale of their scientific and technological feats. 
6. Hidden Figures illustrates the Problem Statement as a part of Pacing. Particularly the Expectations being shaped as the problem slowly reveals itself - sometimes expectations being subverted as the GM makes twists and turns to make things exciting. 
7. Space is Beautiful 

Help support us by Buying Mneme Variant Combat Rules 

The current Project is a Hard Scifi Cepheus Engine Compatible Setting inspired by Daniel Suarez Delta-V, Artemis and the Martian by Andy Weir, Expanse, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Making adventures in the Near Future - 2050+ based on my work experience in a Developing Country (Philippines) and how the world will be very different and much the same. 

TL9.0 to TL9.2 Modularization Manufacturing

Taylorism and Scientific Manufacturing is in TL5

While FORD and his improvements in the Assembly Line is in TL6

Quality Management: Deming, TPS, Lean is TL7

Early CNC machines are TL7, 

3d Printing,  is TL8,  

TL9 is the Modularization of Manufacturing. 

Problem Statement:

Total Cost of Ownership of a Particular Range of Manufacturing is too expensive. By Too expensive at the current business models, many markets are underserved and cannot experiment or fill niches because it's too expensive to use current methods to satisfy that market. If the starting Capital can be reduced then more innovation can be achieved and NEW ideas can arise and challenge the existing paradigms. 

Studies in LEAN, TPS, QMS and AGILE. 

One of the MAIN problems of Older Organizations is the Bias and Assumptions that are far greater than any one person can contain. A collection of Biases and Assumptions creates a lot of Inertia - particularly the inertia to stay the same. 

Its easier to Startup or Buy A Startup, buy a Competing Culture that has most of our core values but approaches it a different way. the Existing Market Leaders will buy their competition, but cannot resist dismantling them and cannibalizing them instead of using them as a seed by which to grow. 

Why hasn't more Vehicles and Manufacturing become Modularized? 

You see the Trend in CPUs with RISC and the need for Right to Repair and Open Standards. Imagine Modular Single-Board-Computers (Like Rasberry Pis and the other SBCs that came in its wake) being the basic component. Imagine not buying a New Desktop, but buying a Mother Board that SLOTS in a number of SBCs that meet an OPEN REPAIR standard. 

the PCIE slots slot in Specialized SBCs: adding power or changing specializations as needed. 

Now for VEHICLES and APPLIANCES, we have a Framework: BODIES/CHASIS and of course its Internal Parts. What I'm "World-Building" is that Enough CNC Machines, FREECAD users, and designers can build a small Company that can create Appliances for a CITY and fulfills most of its lifecycle requirements. 

VEHICLES Manufacturing can be achieved in the same way. CELL manufacturing has been discussed in Operations Management and Research - the Assembly Line exists because there is a single product that needs to be produced and thus the Steps are laid out in the line. But in a highly diverse and adaptable type of manufacturing Cellular approach requires more Indipedented, high initiative, and more pro-active and skilled personnel - the CNC machines and new Materials help but its basically Taking Deming and TPS's and LEAN's human focus to a much higher level. Your shop flow personnel are not just tradesmen, but have the mastery of a professional engineer. They can plan and prepare like a MILITARY but they IMPROVISE on the drop of a hat. Basically what Chris Hadfield talks about in this Vanity Fair Interview

Modularization or Standardization reduces waste by removing the UNCERTAINTY and SCRATCH building that happens by having Optimized sub-processes. Processes and Functions have been reduced to the most versatile, economic, and to have a particular range of uses. 

In the Setting

• 2010's the Maker Movement and Open Workshops 
• 2020's the Reusable Launcher makes 0G Manufacturing more plausible. 
• 2025 Micro and Modular Factories like Arrival Enter the market. 
• 2025 Satelite Internet is Affordable at 100usd/mo at 200mbps anywhere around the world - with Oneweb Starlink and China's Constellation allowing high Tech infra anywhere. 
• 2030 More Modular Micro Factories are adopted, You see them being built in China and India. China, India, and Japan ventures to ASEAN, USAN and Africa Group. India (example is the Mahindra Group) and China 
• 2035 the Catch up of Developing countries like Indonesia and Philippines to the rest of southeast Asia (the 20-year gap shortens to 15-year gap). Vietnam, Thailand, and Malasia cooling. The Demographics of skilled labor and Comparative advantage and trade - major environmental and economic setbacks created more opportunities for some of these countries as some Gov'ts attempt a turnaround. 
• 2035 Micro Modular Factories raise the level of technology in Developing Countries - Countries who lost the major Production to other countries can now have Local production (Example Vietnam becoming the manufacturing hub in South East Asia , the other Countries can now have a smaller car and heavy industry manufacturing).  
• 2050 Localized Manufacturing. the Maker movement is not just in Developed countries - maker spaces and some franchising of such Workshops have begun to spring up. From bootleg repairs and Open Standard Repairs - the E-wastes have been greatly reduced and being reversed - Landfills are being scrounged for E-waste. This varies depending on the country, but many developing countries have rapidly growing Local Manufacturing. 
• 2080 Low Earth Orbit Manufacturing 

Help support us by Buying Mneme Variant Combat Rules 

The current Project is a Hard Scifi Cepheus Engine Compatible Setting inspired by Daniel Suarez Delta-V, Artemis and the Martian by Andy Weir, Expanse, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Making adventures in the Near Future - 2050+ based on my work experience in a Developing Country (Philippines) and how the world will be very different and much the same. 

My open GDOC notes on Blender -Notes of my work with Nicco for our TRPG writing

200504 GITB Blender Basics 

These are the notes and tutorials we use as our team is making Game Material. This also includes concepts and ideas and our strategies as we write more material for Mneme Variant Rules. 

I realize a lot of other Gamers are using 3d more and more for their Games and here I can have a discussion on workflows and techniques. 

I like teaching and discussing the theories and concepts as well as sharing good tutorials as well as my Problems. Problem statements are important as well understanding I cannot form a Problem Statement. I don't mind sharing especially if I can get feedback in return. 

Imphenzia youtube channel is critical in starting - instead of Digesting all the theory in Blender Channel, you can start with Imphenzia's low Poly studies. Whats important of low poly studies is that the EXPECTATIONS are lowered and more forgiving. Nothing is as crippling and self-defeating as mismatched Expectations - it cripples me before I begin. Its hard to see the incremental improvement when we cannot appreciate the work and small wins. 

Hard Scifi - Social Classes from a 3rd Worlder

 One of the 3rd World aspects of Character creation is the role of Status. Developing Countries - Generational change of Social Status sees Education as a key role - there are those that got rich without it but there are so many who owe their status to it. Its a huge cultural difference between Developed and Developing countries. 

When Germany makes Higher Education Free as well as Technical Education - there is that AWARENESS about social mobility and access to education that we don't see in other societies. 

As a 3rd Worlder - Status has a Strong influence - it is expensive being poor and because of the denser and mixed conditions here, it's easier to see - in a building, you pan your view and see the slums and high rises quite easily. With some basic observation, you can see the difference of the 3-4 story buildings that any Civil engineer can Sign for that is filled with Tenants and small businesses which have a structure that seems to sag over time - they don't use Cladding to prevent the pollution from sticking to the walls and giving the building its age. 

in the bottom the patched up housing.

Also in the lifetime of my father things changed rapidly - especially with population pressures that near nearly quadrupled the population while he was growing up. 

I am aware of my Father's social class - and how his workmen talked to him and who he aspires to. My mothers family, my grandfather was a Haciendero's son who studied in the University of Sto Tomas and escaped the Japanese occupation to be a guerilla - a total nerd - he is an example of how he Lost his social status - and changed it for the status of the Town's Principal - of Notra Dame Cotobato. 

When I see the lost fingers of workers who I hand their thousand dollar watches for their 25 years in the company during the Christmas party, to the familiar death that happens yearly as these men reach 50-60, and my peers. 

Its weird when I write Social Status mechanics and EXPLOIT them coming from an Opus Dei school and speaking with a particular class accent - the signaling that happens. 

Social status is a big deal when there is no empathy to see how much more expensive it is to be poor, how every little thing adds up - the way we are OBSESSED with every little improvement in our main tools - ram, processor, OS, architecture, AGILE or Waterfall, test Cycles etc.... every Little thing we are obsessed with yet cannot see how a near subsistence living and the uncertainty of income impacts an entire system and personality - its so Weird when I hear the "Classism" "you just need to work harder" bullshit which a Systems Designer cannot unsee / a glaring reality that lights up so many problems. 

It's a big deal the way Intelligence is a Big Deal - and it can be simple yet illustrative of how powerful it is. Social Rolls where getting LOANS, ability to get 0 Interest or 10-30% discounting with Cash on hand, having a Reserve of Cash or mortgage-able assets. 

Ask a regular person about Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) in the Philippines its easy to see Financial class differences - from people who get suckered in get-rich schemes and people who have the opportunity to invest in land or their career. In the Philippines the Drivers license and Passport is the required ID for having a savings account but one needs a car and to be able to travel abroad to have such documents. 

If it was an African, South Asian, South East Asian, East Asian, South American, Middle Eastern etc.. I can imagine being able to Look at the social Status levels - their behavior that relate to the arms race of social status. How easy it is to open a bank account, agents bending over backwards for their patronage and being able to get a job. 

Social Status is so different in TL9 - the "belters" the ESSENTIAL WORKERS of today and the Essential Workers of tomorrow and the market forces that will exploit them as MORE spacer technicians arise - and what happens to the people who do not have the stomach to survive a Spin Hab, Work in Zero G, etc... unmodified. 

I can imagine the people who took the LOANS to have inner-ear modifications and have to take such loans for their Children. The CLASS distinctions of a person who cannot spend the 1/2 of their waking hours in self-care - their demineralization of bones and shrinking of their heart as they spend more HOURS in 0G.  the RAT RACE in space, the Radiation belt hazards, people having to store and save their gametes - imagine an Entire multi-generational household investing in Gamete storage and shielding.

Imagine operating an Inertia Bank - a multi-KM spinning spiral chain that CATCHES and hurls heka-KiloTon ships to allow them to Travel Intersystem Jupiter to Saturn or Jupiter to Belt. The ability to Operate cheaply and how PAINFULLY net Income will slowly arrive to or may never arrive - to allow InterSystem Travell can be done by ships with less than 30Km/s 𝚫V. Using the mass of Gigaton Mountain to store inertia - the Spiral Arms extending or Shrinking to Manipulate angular momentum as needed. 

Uterine Pods and their importance to a Habitat or Colony. How fully enclosed food Production modules - food made to grow in a Box at a particular Density - the buying and selling of these Pods. How social Status is an Element of SOCIAL mechanics and Economics. How Violations of Social Contracts are inevitable because groups of people cannot help but have so little 𝚫V to make corrective changes as profitability and humanity tend to contradict in a massive system. 

*All the photos are just from my own. the top is the view of our new condo we're moving to, and this one in the bottom is on the overpass to Taguig Bonifacio Global City Centra Biz District. 

What would make Players Interested in a Near Future Setting 2050-2070?

When I wrote Mneme Variant Combat Rules in Cepheus Engine, I was using an Adaptive approach to name design. I wanted to tackle the big Picture of Hard Scifi Traveller, but as my vision of the game got more educated with Simple Rockets 2, Kerbal Space, Universe Sandbox, Children of a Dead Earth , Daniel Suarez Delta-V, Artemis and the Martian by Andy Weir, Expanse, Channels like Anton Petrov, Scott Manley, Astrum, etc... How can I make a number of people enjoy or warm up to a near future setting. 

Particularly a near-future setting where there REALY is a profitable reason to go to space. 3d Printing Organs, ZBLAN (microgravity made fiberoptics), new material states for quantum computing etc... would mean more frequent Personnel Rotation, a lot of Personnel, and Spin Habitats - and early manufacturing. 

Players or PCs can be the growing professional class take on the RISKS and REWARDS of space industry. Engineers, Technicians, Administrators, Leaders, etc... who have to work in the dangerous and risky environment of early space Habitats and Stations. 

What used to be 4-10 people at space at any given time of the year in 2021 to thousands of people in 2050 and tens of thousands of people under a million in 2080 in cis lunar space. the moon being a manufacturing hub for micro-gravity manufacturing. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_spaceflights#2021%E2%80%93present 

A large habitat of hundreds of thousands of tons of Volume of habitats will compete for space to orbit the moon. Habitats that will provide 1G living space for people who work on the moon. Orbiting the moon in 1.5kms (the ISS orbits at 7.66 kms to create enough centrifugal force to negate the gravity BUT being in the thermosphere there will be some speed loss over time). 

Players are the Spacers who will be needed to help assemble these stations and plants. instead of Rolling Attack and Damage, players will be rolling their Admin, Engineering, Social Skills etc... to get the resources and conditions just right to operate their business AND deal with the many other problems that follow. 

I love the case study method of learning and to me the TRPG of this is a great place to learn - even if we go into Hard Scifi Imperfect, Amature, and ignorant. Thats the THING about playing this kind of game: We are going to the unknown - we Will be improvising and we all are going to have to work with our limited talents. How do I make people excited for this? 

 

 

Deming Cycle - Game Mechanics

 Is it so weird that I use the Deming cycle in The Mneme Variant Combat rules for Cepheus Engine I made for Cepheus engine? Breaking it down to fractal Cycles of combat rounds and rolls?

I wanted to structure around the Deming cycle so it becomes a Fractal system that the player or gm take in macro levels up and levels down.

The Deming cycle is used in PMBOK and Agile to approach uncertainty. Gamers would recognize the Deming cycle in the Tension curve aka Narrative Arc or Pacing in storytelling as well as Catharsis emotional cycle in CBT triangle.

Universal Sandbox Usage Terms are pretty easy to follow

 http://universesandbox.com/usage/ 

If others are considering using Universe Sandbox to detail their Worldbuilding (game material).

Hope to make hard SciFi more accessible and a lot of illustrations.

I tend to run Sandbox Games, players randomly decide one of the 100 moons of Jupiter to start their adventure it would be awesome to explain these.

"Elara is a homestead with a relatively small 200m radius habitat of 60 years old, with 80,000 people in 1MegaTon. It serves as an Inertia Tether and adds delta-V to incoming and outgoing vessels traveling in and around the Jupiter system. Like many other spin habs the cylinder is nestled inside the Asteroid to protect it... "

Elara, Himalia, Themisto, Capro are one of the Main Tether stations allowing <30km/s 𝚫V move to other systems.

I hope I can make science fun and interesting as a TRPG. 

Learning a Lot from Sci-Fi TRPGS: so many ways to die

 stuff I didn't know but learned as I got into Hard Scifi TRPGs

1) humans need 1 atmosphere of pressure, that space suits are designed to remain flexible as 1 atmosphere of pressure balloons the suit and make it immovable. Without the pressure, suffocation happens (as our lungs which function by creating a pressure differential stops working) and bubbling of nitrogen in our joints causes incredible pain. 

2) that the pressure in most Spacesuits is below 1 atmosphere of pressure and that they raise the oxygen content from what is normally 18 to more to compensate. an Electronic spark inside a vacc suit is scary. 

3) That in freefall Extra-Vehicular Activity can kill you by simply drifting away - the need for lanyards and jet packs. 

4) That gravity is necessary in so many human functions, Air pressure, and blood circulation. The shortened life of an Astronaut staying in long periods in freefall/0G is quite a sacrifice. 

5) that Centrifugal Spin Gravity is painful to people who have Motion Sickness - if you can't take a boat ride - try a small spin habitat with a size below 200m Radius (400m diameter). 

6) That planets have Radiation Belts - created by the magnetic fields of a planet that has one interacting with the Sun's radiation. The shielding of it is expensive and they can be incredibly powerful.  

7) That humans need about 60 cubic meters and up of space as well as about a work out of 1 hour a day and more to compensate for Low gravity or freefall deteriorating effects. 

😎 That teams of scientists and mathematicians work on these navigational calculations well in advance and in Scifi game we handwave the number of calculations and Checking - if a gamer is daunted by a simple escape velocity calculation magnitude of complexity need to know where one is and how to get where. Getting these wrong cost lives. 

9) Solar Flares, Thermospheric Storms (Particularly in jupiters thermosphere with charged metallic hydrogen), Micro-meteorites, Radiation Belt Fluctuations (as magnetic poles change), Space Manifolds miscalculations, Kessler Syndrome (when particles hit each other that create a cascading failure that makes a debris field that will destroy everything in its path) as well a Human Error are factors that can kill. 

it is so deadly - thriving is a miracle.   The game might be daunting but with the right people its not just amazing but educational.

Sleep-pod and Freshers - Solving the Orientation Problem

 Sleep pods and Freshers can be pretty much the same thing. 

1) redundant life support - cabin fails the sleep pod and fresher

2) sonic and water systems for cleaning.

3) the ability to help with Vacc-Suits and service Vacc Suits. 

4) in a no-Artificial-Gravity handwave setting - gravity is mostly with spin or spin-gravity setting - we have to unload the Life-style changes that people rest in spin-gravity and they work in micro-0G. This amount of space is a luxury.

5) My ratios of Space from BPO and Office Fitout puts Cabins at 1/2 to 1/3 the space of a ship or a station. NASA's 65 cubic meter and 56Ton Volume cabin are pretty close. So take the cabin and x2 to x3 the rest of the common and service areas IN the HAB. Outside the HAB is a different matter. 

6) Hi-G forces or Crashes protection. 

7) Suits have an Exercise Mode where walking pads and elastic resistance bands allow the wearer to exercise. Exercise and Physical Recreation can take up 1/3-1/4 of total time on a ship or station - the amount of Conditioning and personal maintenance will probably surprise us all. Team Games and Sports - Simulations and Projects will try to serve this role.  

8) The Gross Domestic Product per Person will be Staggering to us and our time. As engines move materials at x100-x1000 more efficiently than ships for the same KW or MW the tons of material, infrastructure, and labors used to maintain Habital and Dignified existence in space would be magnitudes greater than our present time. The size of the economy - measured by Income per capita or GDP per capita and Debt or Investment will have numbers that don't make sense and make sense - that an Economy and its Value is the Value its population has on the System and a more Star-trek like society that is very Equitable and a strong goodwill can allow for Staggering progress although a Feudal Empire will also allow the same - as the Emperor is a simpler repository of market confidence. Although a Democratic and Participatory system has a GREATER level of demographic quality of life POSSIBILITY while an Empire will depend on the roll of the die what kind of Emperor takes power (Cloned Emperors with minimal adjustments). Solomani vs Imperium. 

9) FORGOT - Radiation protection - when entering a radiation belt crew enter these pods for additional protection. 

1.5 x 1.5  at 3 x 2 (typical Stateroom/Cabin in Traveller). 

0.25m solidify thickness for 2.5m elevation inside the 3m high module. 

What If we Combine the Double Sleep Pod and Fresher into 1 Module with Enclosable Sections

1. So a person inside can change their orientation. foldable bed sections - making it double bunk if needed or allow people rest. 
1. Possible their spare Vacc Suit is here. 
2. as well as allowing for a Vertical Standing Orientation. 
3. This serves as an Emergency POD for the Cabin, in case the cabin is compromised. Lets say the clearance above is occupied by all the other systems: water, air, waste, processing, independent power. 
1. We solve the ORIENTATION problem - humans cannot maintain standing or lying indefinitely. 
2. We control Life Support and Waste. 
3. We have our rest and protection while we rest. Its our Crash station. 
4. It may represent the 50% of the rooms cost in Technology - with Pipes and fittings allowing for power and material supply to the cabin. 
5. I can imagine regularly the Hard rations in the LIFE SUPPORT POD or "Pod" are replaced regularly. 
6. Imagine rescues where these are what ships pick up. holding  1 or 2 people. Drugs for Metabolic or hibernation state - Survival Roll to activate the hibernate state waiting for rescue with "Kill" options for the user to have a painless death if they cannot be saved. 

Vertical Orientation and Delta-V based thinking - Why Not?

In Universe Sandbox I can imagine running a game: 

1) 2070 -2080 0.7-1.8 E+13 Kg (Gigaton) Asteroid is being evaluated for Capture (premise of Delta V of Daniel Suarez) PC are both the Crew and Ground Station and Sessions are them getting caught up in the Politics and the Social Challenges of such a Project. One of the aspects of such a game makes anyone can play it is the Project Management which is like Tactical Combat there are Finite moves and Practices that is performed in such projects the PC will discover anomalies and risks and opportunities that will affect the project. 

2) 2100 Cis-Lunar Space and the Mars way station have reached diminishing returns as everyone has set their sights on developing the Belt with particularly a platform in Jupiter. Particularly PCs are a development team - either developing the Belt or Pioneering Jupiter. 

Salt-Water Nuclear Rockets are now available (near Expanse level of efficiency) 

3) 2300 Jovian moons and the Belt has exploded to a population of 1B and growing through both migration and the hundreds of thousand Mega-Ton habitats the are constellations throughout the Jupiter. A population growth comparable to only 20C expecting to be 10B in 2400. Gigatons of Material is moved in the resource Rich (low delta V cost extraction) in the Jovian System. Rich with cheap fissionable, reaction mass, and a concentration of nearby mass and advances in SWNR - (imagine our current economic condition but multiply the Trade by x100 because unlike moving things by water where water acts as a fulcrum to move heavy objects cheaply - cheap power, fuel, and materials allow Gigatons to be moved relatively cheaply - Moving 1Gigaton per KM is 1,000x cheaper than on Earth. (You can probably make a THESIS paper in economics what it means to have Material Moving and Transfer costs this much).  

It's close to what a Traveller Game would be - except instead of PARSECS its mega-meters (mega meters is 1000 km and travel time in weeks) - the wealth of Reaction Mass allow for ships that accelerate and decelerate for Days.  

I can probably re-use all the old traveller ships. I and Nicco will change the Orientation to Vertical from horizontal layouts. 

What does a Vertically Oriented Far Trader Look like?

Basically its possible to make a Vertically oriented Far Trader and make sense. 

What if the engines can make really really tiny fusion impulses? with an abundance of He3 - what if the Liquid rockets dissolve enough fissionable for really controlled bursts - like "after burners" a change of Fuel intake or going Nitro in cars. 

Of course it won't be a lot of gravity by Accel. 

Its great that both Nicco and I like these puzzles. 

In just the Jupiter System this would be enough... but when going outside and fringes of Jupiter - one needs to strap-on some Tanks, Spin-Habitats, and more Engines. 

The GREAT thing about delta-V based calculations is that its basically a MASS equation - no strange "DTON" equation. Basically its a Credit per DeltaV tracking and KPI. 

Universe Sandbox Gifs and Playing around.

 Game Running Logistics: So Universe Sandbox Records Gifs with its built-in video recorder. I have simple rockets and still trying to figure it out, after work I'm so exhausted with meetings and problems the numbers all look alien and incomprehensible. 

So I can probably record gifs of the scenario and location perspectives. 

Still desktop recording with Kazaam (Linux) seems to be better so I can give notes but won't be immediately playable in in Social media group for the game. 

TIL

1) I can select objects and it will relative distances. Ctrl+Click to select multiple objects. Then bring up the menu of either and it will give these options. 

Ctrl+select to select multiple and pull up their menus

GIF of jupiter's hundred moons. Good for a game set in 2300

2) that as I add more mass to the orbits of something (Like adding more Giga or Terra TON space stations) the ORBITS starts to change. So early TL9.2 or TL9.3 CIS Lunar Space economy "rounding" or "herding" a bunch of the trailing asteroids to earth orbit for a low delta V source of material will need to look for places to "Park it" 1-5E+13 kg (gigatons) . 

Am I capable of writing an adventure set in 2070 of using an early "repositioning" project to place a 1-5E+13 kg asteroid in cis-lunar orbit and Can I make it interesting enough to play ("Lowest Bidder" problems, Politics and Intrigue, Hidden Incompetence and Competence - Drawing from Work Experience with Gov't bid projects in a Developing Country, - common sense engineering may not exist in a Committee )? Small 500-5000m sized ones. The earliest MINING vessels are earliest Nuclear Salt Water thrusters - using water rich asteroids to fuel its own motion. (no need to carry fuel if the fuel is there). When INERTIA tethers arise able to launch megaton mining vessels with fuel mostly intact (ideally very little spent in adjustment). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_trojan

Inspired by Daniel Suarez Delta-V novel. As a Developing Worlder - and being able to see other developing world industries when I join ERPNext free training (South Asians, South East Asians, Africans etc...) people who are also too poor to afford $1000/mo/user Ops Software (SAP) for their Businesses Our Current ERPNext deployment has been costing about 300usd so far BUT 1000 "Cheap 3rd world Manhours" myself included.   I feel like a BELTA - high tech but crippled by missing basic necessities. The muddiness of a "POOR" world - when you say Poor to an Educated 3rd Worlder you can see the System of Oppression and Abuse and the cultural inertia in our Gov't Bidding systems, centralization of power, and the Zero-Sum elements in the culture. I see the intrigue, biases to overcome, the technical hurdles of an uncertain market: TONS of rolls needed but the Finite ACTIONS the PCs can perform. 

3)  TIR imagining ENGINES and Spidery and Web Scaffolding being re-arranged by Drones, in Days the engines will be deployed by the crew to STABALIZE the asteroid first (which was calculated already prior to arriving with fine adjustments now that they can make more accurate density and mass calculations on its surface), then orienting it. A nessessary but quickly obsolete prospect when Lunar iron mining become developed. Mining on the Moon, on Mars, Psyche and Jupiter all have efficiencies and trade offs and unexpected market fluctuations that allocate infra in ways that over hundreds of year will naturalize to self sufficiency for these local producers.  

Added 6 Career Cards and some minor improvements for Cepheus Engine Character Gen

 Updated and Added more Free Stuff to Mneme Variant Combat Rules
Nicco and I Added the Career Cards. These are a 2-letter-sized page spread flow chart of each career (only Barbarian, Drifter, Rogue, Mercenary, Army, and Marine). Plus notes of basic Easy Fixes on Cepheus Engine Character Creation that would make it easier to teach for new players. 

Feel Free to give us Feedback here so we can learn and improve the products. 

Trade Code	Skill
Agricultural	Animals-0, Farming-0, Broker-0
Asteroid, Vacuum	Zero-G-0, Survival-0, Mechanics-0
Desert, Barren	Survival-0, Vehicle-0, Zero-G-0
Fluid Oceans	Watercraft-0, Mechanics-0, Survival-0
Garden	Animals-0, Farming-0, Survival-0
High Technology	Computer-0, Electronics-0, Admin-0
High Population	Streetwise-0, Linguistics-1, Carousing-0
Ice-Capped	Zero-G-0, Survival-0, Vehicle-0
Industrial	Broker-0, Mechanics-0, Electronics-0
Low Technology	Survival-0, Farming-0, Animals-0
Poor	Survival-0, Streetwise-0, Farming-0
Rich	Carousing-0, Liaison-0, Steward-0
Gass Giants	Aircraft-0, Zero-G-0, Survival-0

Currently Working on a Way to allow us to Create Characters in a way that it serves as the Entire Session (1-3 hours) and a great way to hang out with friends. Wish us luck!