Critical Mass, page 51
Appendix
Two perspectives of a 15,000-ton, spin-gravity space station to be placed in a Lissajous orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point. In addition to a habitation ring with central hangar, Clarke Station includes a regolith refinery and solar thermal power plant on its non-rotating axis. (Copyright 2022 Daniel Suarez)
Robotic return tugs (from bottom to top): the Nicole Clarke, the David Morra, and the Amy Tsukada. (Copyright 2019 Daniel Suarez. Illustration by Anthony Longman)
Artist’s rendering of SPS-ALPHA Mark III (solar power satellite by means of arbitrarily large phased array) concept, transmitting power to the lunar surface.
Note: the SPS-Alpha uses thin-film mirrors to concentrate solar energy onto a central disc of solar panels; microwave transmitters on the opposite side of this disc transmit energy to a rectenna on the Moon’s surface. A 2-gigawatt SPS-Alpha would mass 7,400 tons and measure 3 kilometers in diameter. Whereas the 50-megawatt “Daisy” SPS-Alpha depicted in this story massed just 185 tons and was 125 meters across. (Concept/image copyright 2022 John C. Mankins; reproduced with permission)
Further Reading
You can learn more about the science, technologies, and themes explored in Critical Mass by visiting Daniel-Suarez.com or through the following books:
The Case for Space Solar Power by John C. Mankins (Virginia Edition Publishing)
Electrostatic Phenomena on Planetary Surfaces by Carlos I. Calle (Morgan & Claypool Publishers)
The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O’Neill (William Morrow & Company)
The “How To” of Satellite Communications (2nd ed.) by Dr. Joseph N. Pelton (Design Publishers)
Moneyland: The Inside Story of the Crooks and Kleptocrats Who Rule the World by Oliver Bullough (St. Martin’s Press)
The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution (4th ed.) by Frank White (Multiverse Publishing)
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert (Henry Holt & Company)
Space 2069: After Apollo: Back to the Moon, to Mars . . . and Beyond by David Whitehouse (Icon Books)
Space Is Open for Business: The Industry That Can Transform Humanity by Robert C. Jacobson (Robert Jacobson)
Spacefarers: How Humans Will Settle the Moon, Mars, and Beyond by Christopher Wanjek (Harvard University Press)
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming by David Wallace-Wells (Tim Duggan Books)
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster)
About the Author
Daniel Suarez is the author of the New York Times bestseller Daemon, FreedomTM, Kill Decision, Influx, Change Agent, and Delta-v. A former systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, his high-tech and sci-fi thrillers focus on technology-driven change. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
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Daniel Suarez, Critical Mass
