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Ad astra coniuncte - To the stars, together. Arm in arm to wonder and love and learn. Ethically, sustainably, and cooperatively. We go together, or not at all.

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Home base. ‘Falcon’, the Lunar Module of Apollo 15, rests on an angle by the edge of a shallow crater with tire tracks from the Lunar Rover nearby, Aug 1971. The 12-day mission was flown by David Scott & Jim Irwin, who both walked & drove on the moon (via the LRV) & Al Worden, who piloted the Command Module above in lunar orbit. It was Irwin & Worden’s sole spaceflight & an incredible 3rd mission for Scott.

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"We were so glad to see we had neighbours," the message began. "We wrote poems of joy to you in the storms and the clouds. But you never responded." The message came from Jupiter. "We grieved, until we realised you cannot read those, that you read radio waves. Thus we greet you."

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Most modern torch drives use a specialized fusion method known as sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch fusion, in which a bolt of electricity is dumped into the fuel plasma, generating a very powerful axial magnetic field. This field crushes the plasma to incredible densities until it fuses, in brief pulses happening several times per second. Rather than attempting to confine the plasma within a magnetic bottle, the plasma is instead allowed to flow axially down the length of the reaction chamber. This mutes the various instabilities that arise in other Z-pinch devices. This also makes it a very convenient rocket engine, as channeling the resultant plasma stream out of one end with a magnetic nozzle can generate significant thrust. Magnetohydrodynamic generators bleed off a small portion of the plume’s energy to recharge the supercapacitor banks for the next fusion pulse. Due to the large flux of thermal and neutron radiation from the star-hot fusion plasma, torch drives are an open cage of magnetic coils and filigree-like truss work in order to let the majority of the radiation escape into space rather than be absorbed by the engine. In addition, the delicate superconducting coils are protected from direct exposure to the fusion plasma by thin, knife-like blade shields. These coils must be kept cool in order to remain superconducting. The shields present their knife-edges towards the plasma stream, absorbing a small margin of radiation while scattering the rest. Their extremely thin cross-section means that they have a very large surface area, and thus function as passive radiators. As such, tungsten is the material of choice, being able to heat up to nearly 3000 K before beginning to sublimate. The blades are placed at a standoff distance of 2 or 3 meters from the plasma itself, with the tips just barely below the sublimation point. Ironically, the blade shields and radiators of a torch drive are often far brighter than the exhaust plume, often glowing at around 2800 K (as bright as early incandescent light bulbs).

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Kerbtown base has received a few expansions, as well as a rover!

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Orion has reached the Moon.

We're BACK, baby!

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In this cult house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics.

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The TLAV (Triton Lander and Ascent Vehicle) for the Argos Expedition to Neptune in my setting's timeline. Takes crew down from the interplanetary spacecraft Nautilus in orbit to the base site in Abatos Planum, a vast cryovolcanic plain on Triton. Both stages use methalox engines.

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The first crew of Kerbtown base, Gradun, Chrisman, and Lefrey Kerman, have arrived safely and are excited to start carrying out long-term research on the Mün! (edited)

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One day, perhaps somewhat soon, humans will witness a lunar eclipse from the surface of the Moon (or rather, a solar eclipse by Earth).

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SLS launched the Orion spacecraft to start first Artemis mission.

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science is cool

rb if you agree

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when your art program’s closing message hits you straight in the heart and makes you stop and contemplate the state of it all

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The Watcher by Kez Laczin

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Akaze dam, Komatsu

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Isometric city builder-style paintings and visdev of Japanese/Asian-style nuclear reactors, along with explanations of the technology, from 2021. Nuclear power is cool! We really need to seriously consider it if we want a popsicle's chance of decarbonising our energy mix, frankly.

Thanks to Ave, Beau, and Ato, who helped educate me on the basics of nuclear reactor engineering. As a token of thanks to them, TRISO baseball:

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