Starship Asterisk*

neufer wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:

zoomer wrote:
Full agreement on captured comet. Additionally most of the 'craters' look to me shaped more like rocket nozzles, as you might expect pressurized outflow gasses to create. Further, I cannot think of craters forming this pattern or these angles of impact.

It's very large for a comet, and it's location and low inclination argue against a capture. It seems more likely to me that we're looking at an original moon, altered by a collision. A body need not be a comet to show evidence of venting; many of Saturn's moons are icy bodies, similar in some respects to comets.

Also note that with chaotic rotation Hyperion currently undergoes considerable tidal stretching as compared with tidally locked/low eccentricity moons. This produces strong internal heating as compared with the external heating of a comet.

Chris Peterson wrote:

zoomer wrote:
Full agreement on captured comet. Additionally most of the 'craters' look to me shaped more like rocket nozzles, as you might expect pressurized outflow gasses to create. Further, I cannot think of craters forming this pattern or these angles of impact.

It's very large for a comet, and it's location and low inclination argue against a capture. It seems more likely to me that we're looking at an original moon, altered by a collision. A body need not be a comet to show evidence of venting; many of Saturn's moons are icy bodies, similar in some respects to comets.

zoomer wrote:Full agreement on captured comet. Additionally most of the 'craters' look to me shaped more like rocket nozzles, as you might expect pressurized outflow gasses to create. Further, I cannot think of craters forming this pattern or these angles of impact.

swimmerscott1956 wrote:I think it is a comet that was captured by Saturn's gravity, and has reached a thermodynamic state of equilibrium where no more outgassing is possible at this time. It looks just like pictures of the other comets from the last ten years or so.

swimmerscott1956 wrote:I think it is a comet that was captured by Saturn's gravity, and has reached a thermodynamic state of equilibrium where no more outgassing is possible at this time. It looks just like pictures of the other comets from the last ten years or so.

Chris Peterson wrote:

EricsonEricson wrote:They are buckyballs.

Well, maybe. But I'm skeptical. C₆₀ and C₇₀ are readily and unambiguously detectable by their IR spectrum, in the 5-20 μm range, and Cassini carries an IR spectrometer that covers that range at high resolution. It's hard to believe that somebody hasn't directed it at the dark material in an effort to figure out what it might be. I don't see how they could have failed to detect fullerenes, but a quick search doesn't reveal any papers.

Your theory seems reasonable, and is testable. But where's the test?

EricsonEricson wrote:They are buckyballs.

jlfonz1 wrote:

EricsonEricson wrote:They are buckyballs.
They are created when electro-statically charged carbon is ejected into vacuum.
Also common on other moons. Where they flow cling and settle.
They are also a rich source of light weight impact resistant material for space travel.

This is what I thought also. Wouldn't this make both a great source of material AND a space station? Develop a spray material that hardens and seal walls and floors creating various sized habitation areas that would take less time and effort to build since the cavities already exist. Only bulk heads would be needed at entrances and of course compartmentalize adjacent areas. I would be like an ant colony except we wouldn't have to excavate everything, we'd be using most of the existing environment.

How do we control it? Bringing it into a closer orbit, preferably Mars or something between Earth and Mars as a way station escapes me but I have a couple of ideas (far fetched of course) on how to control its rotation.
1) A solar sail connected to something like a locomotive on the surface with a nuclear power source riding a series of rails on the surface. This locomotive would use mag lev technologies as a frictionless brake. The sail could be shuttered when not in use. (hardest and probable least cost effective)
2) A series of non-linear magnetorquers placed below the surface around the moon. Based on the shape of Hyperion I would say five might be sufficient.

Plenty of power would be needed so each station would have redundant reactors and they should all be accessible to the surface via shafts. They should be created in a modular fashion so that they can be removed for rebuilding or repairing at another location or more importantly ejected in case of an emergency.

Don't forget a space elevator would be an option.

I enjoy dreaming.

EricsonEricson wrote:They are buckyballs.
They are created when electro-statically charged carbon is ejected into vacuum.
Also common on other moons. Where they flow cling and settle.
They are also a rich source of light weight impact resistant material for space travel.

Judy F wrote:Actually, I find it resembles packed snow that has sublimated in below-freezing weather. Dark areas heat more quickly in the sun and sublimate away, leaving hollows like these. I see them every late winter/early spring.