NationStates Jolt Archive

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TNN -- Tannenmillian News Network

Late Friday, Borvian Fleet Design and its partner company, Olieev Trepan Co., announced the Solar Quarry Project.

Little of this project has been declassified to the public. Helium and hydrogen are going to be harvested as use for fuels and cryogenics are known. Already, a number of platforms have been set up on the sun of our system, Beleno, and mining is predicted to be fully operational within the next five years. TNN has also obtained information on the primary transport ship used to carry the liquids.

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SPECS:
Model: Nostradamus-class Transport Ship
Manufacturer: Borvian Fleet Design
Designation: Short Range Solar-Resistant Freighter
Length: 500 metres
Crew: 50
Cargo Capacity: 8,500 metric tons (68,000 kilolitres of liquid helium, 125,000 kilolitres of liquid hydrogen)
Consumables: 10 days
Foldspace Generator: Variable 0
Weapons: 4 Turbolaser cannons

As we receive more information on this revolutionary project, it will be transmitted to you. From Porell City, Tannenmille, this is John Farrell reporting.

Bamf.

Fmab.

Why? Why do you want H and He?

Hydrogen fuel cells, and both for cryogenic uses.

If you have the technology to mine the sun, you should have passed far beyond the need for HFCs.

HFCs are for civilian use, not for the military.

Very impressive, but I am worried. Wouldn't mining the sun lead to shortening the life span of the sun? We are also having a gold rush of our own. Basically our nation has found a way to manipulate atomic structures of elements to become desirable elements. Also we are plainning to start mining the core for metals(the core is an natural ore source.

Tannenmille realizes that mining can cause problems with the nature of the sun, which is why we have probes being sent out around the galaxy searching for uninhabited solar systems to mine from. We expect to have 20 fully-operational mining systems in the Milky Way alone within 100 NS years.

Tarterus gas mining station floats above the clouds on one of the gas giants on Coronae Borealis V..

Mining for H and He from a star when you could do it from a gas giant?.. well, the must not have any gas giants i guess, but i am sure they have a way to handle plasma.

In my solar system, Sucello, there are no gas giants. So we had to discover a way to get the materials we needed close to home.

[OOC: I'm not an FT nation, so I apologise if Im getting this completely wrong... but would it not be cheaper and less energy intensive just to use electrolysis to harvest hydorgen from water, rather than flying actually into the sun, compressing it hugely and then flying back with it?]

Well, with the massive amounts of hydrogen that we'll need, we would exhaust our water supply within 500 years using electrolysis.

We would be willing to sell up to 500 billion cubic tonnes of hydrogen and 100 billion cubic tonnes of helium, for the total of 300 billion dollars, or equivilent in trade goods.

We respectfully decline your offer.

May we enquire why?

We do not have 300 billion to spend on materials we are already mining.

We would be willing to sell a lesser amount for a lesser cost.

Not interested.

Fair enought.

Well, with the massive amounts of hydrogen that we'll need, we would exhaust our water supply within 500 years using electrolysis.
[OOC: When you burn hyrdogen or use it in a fuel cell, what do you get? Water.]