3 ms·
Exactly - these thing as designed by ONeil are HUGE - 30 km long on the "default" island three type. The solid walls would be meters thick, so the projectile w
by m4rtink 8y ago
Exactly - these thing as designed by ONeil are HUGE - 30 km long on the "default" island three type.
The solid walls would be meters thick, so the projectile would have to be very masive and/or very fast. And even then it would take a long time for pressure to reach dangerously low levels.
- jandrese 8y agoI would expect lots of double and triple hulls. Especially on the glassy parts. Micrometorite smashes through a pane and it only opens up the compartmentalized space between the walls. It doesn't even depressurize anything because the secondary hull can be left unpressurized. These can then be repaired by technicians. A big emergency plug can be designed for large impacts, and as a last resort everybody can be trained in the use of emergency depressurization shelters. It's not without its risks, but at the same time it's not like the Earth is totally safe either. O'Neill colonies don't have to worry about natural disasters.
- aeternus 8y agoThere are already proposals for resin-filled self-healing polymers and epoxies. This would provide a high amount of resilience to small impacts.
- m4rtink 8y agoI've seen a clever concept with special has filled baloons covered with a sticky resin layer from the inside. If there is a hull breach the baloons are automatically released, get sucked into the hole, break apart and seal it with the resin.
- m4rtink 8y agoYou cold definitely do a Whipple shield - basically a stand-of plate that vaporizws and fractures any projectiles, making it impact the next plate/hull on much bigger area but with much less localized force. This is basically the main defense ISS has agains micro meteorites and orbital debris.