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Backgrounds - Going farther to Polaris

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Harbor Warp One

Harbor Warp One is Earth's interstellar space harbor. Space harbors are floating freely in R-field.  In freely floating harbor cargo's handling is easy. In the top floors for passengers, corridors have rolling floors and rails for moving. 

In space smaller cargo is hauled in containers and tanks. 

Containers for animals have tranquilizer system for storms. When ship goes into storm, animals are put to sleep and bound to container floor. Bounding is made with foam and belts. 

Space harbor gate outlets can be chained so, that each car has it own gate. Train cars are named so, that number refers to car's length. Letters C, P, etc refer to car type. C is cargo and P is passenger car. Letters are used also differentiating trains, travel together. C or C with sequence number is cargo train. A is passenger train.

Trains have captain, pilot and seven co-pilots. Pilots work 5.5 hours in 6 hour shifts.  Train has also 8 mechanics for the engine room. Settler trains crew for passengers is typically collected from settlers. First settler trains return without cars. After settlement get it's production going, returning trains haul mined, drilled and manufactured products to other planets.

The Shoes

During storms selected crew members gather into waitresses room, waiting for distress calls from passengers. They use electro magnetic shows, that keeps them nailed to the floor. Magnet activates, when you put weight on the shoe. Magnet de-activates, when lift your feet and take weight away from the shoe.

With space shoes you can move with kick power. Sleeve wings are fit for swim-like moments. When you move your hands forwards, you twist your arms so, that wings are aligned with your body. For the back drag and movement you "open" sleeve wings. Possible to use space shows with similar kind of principle. Frogs have flap feet and front paws. Frog styled kicks fits well with space shoes.

JRD Settlement

JRD settlements are funded with public debts and private investments. With voluntary works settlers can reduce the initial debt. After settlement provides work to it's citizens, public debts are transferred to local pension funds.

JRD always build a small industrial district into residential settlements. Industrial district has small sawmill, blacksmith, steel foundry, brick furnace, cement factory, casting facility for urethane, unit for glass making, etc. Sawmill unit is enhanced with a limited capability to produce carton, chip and hardboards. Units in industrial district are small. District is built with ready made machines. After the basement is finished, machines for the unit are dropped to the district and bolted to their places. District's capacity is defined with the number of units. District can for example have four sawmill units.

Industrial district has at two tractors with big toolset and also an electric mining machine for landscaping and stone block production.  Another tractor has front loader. Toolset has detachable forest harvester tool. Forest harvester tool collect trunks into parked and-or towed trailer.

During the trip to settlement, settlers are taught jobs and production of the  things you can do in industrial district. Machinery in industrial district belongs to community, it can be used in both daytime jobs and voluntary projects. Industrial district has machines for making roads, dragging cables, ditches and water pipes. After settlement is "finished" industrial district becomes communal workers' workshop, which is open for hobbyists and do-it-yourself people.

Standard JRD settlement pack includes also a power plant, plants owner is the settler community. When possible plant is R&D solar plant with coal furnace. Plant is often accompanied with wood-coal factory. In coal furnace you can burn also chopped firewood.

New settlement has all kinds of temporal workers and contractors, that help settlers and settling companies to initiate the settlement. Great deal from landscaping is made by contractors.

 

Sand beach

Polaris A cars are 80 meter long. Sand beach lake is around 20 meters wide, 40 meters long and 3 meter deep pool. Pool has hydraulic, tilting sand floor. Depth can be adjusted with hydraulic floor. Floor doesn't change pools water volume, it floats in the pool.

Sand beach occupies two common floors. Sand beach doesn't have regular staff. Like for example cleaners. Big cleaning projects are made as voluntary works. Beach has bar, snack, candy, ice-cream and kiosk mates. Mates are robotic wending machines. You need cash-card, debit-card or credit-card for the usage. Common on ground mates accept also cash payments. Beach simulate sun light with strong lights. Lights can simulate earthly sun with around 700 lux maximal lighting power.

Distances, speeds and times

Moon's distance is said to be 400 000 km. Actual distance should be around 40 000 km. With this distances in the story are divided by ten. North star's distance to earth is said to be 430 light years. Story divides given distances with 10. So that distance to North Star is 43 light years. Printed distances are used for giving some kind of scale to space trips and distances in space.*

After this trains' cruise speed is 60 warp. Train travels one light year in a week. With these trip to North Star takes 43 weeks. Centaurus is 0.4 light years from Earth. Trips from Earth to Centaurus takes only few days. Speeds are possible with trains new engines, that doesn't have any moving parts. Warp engine is derived from common rocket engine. In 60 warp speed, resistors temperatures are around 2 500 C. Higher temperatures melt the resistors. Resistors burn almost everything that comes into way. Exhaust gases colors changes a little all the time. Base color is gas-welder blue.

Warp is 1 000 000 000 km/h or 1 billion km/h. Light year is around 10 000 000 000 000 km or 10 trillion kilometers.  Some chapters on this site sets warp incorrectly to only 1 million km/h. Warp is defined on 3rd April 2023.

Interplanetary flights are made with around 1 000 000 km/h speed. Trips to for example moons are made with only 100 000 km/h speed. Accelerations and decelerations need lots of time and space. Commercial warp speed cruising is allowed on marked and supervised space ways. Beacon system warns ships from storms and anomalies. Other spacecrafts are not allowed to go anywhere near the warp ways.

Collisions with R-field molecules should fade distant stars from the sky. Stars, which are visible to eye, should not be very far from earth. R-fields fading effect can turn out to be even bigger than G-fields. Collisions with atoms take power away from light beams. 

* Stardust chapter uses Wikipedia's distance tables. In Wikipedia North Star is only 430 light years from earth, in earlier star book distance is 840 light years.

Empowering trains

Warp crafts electric jets are powered with few HF cylinders. When train is stopped few HF cylinders are also held active, they empower connected cars. For emergencies each car has a small HF cylinder system. In dark space cars cool down very quickly. Cars must be heated all the time. Passenger cars are made so, that heating system is in the car. Car's own HF cylinders can be used for powering heaters, lights and others. Passenger cars have ship like door systems, that allows you to close and isolate leaking sections.

Big spare part storages are right after engine room. They are in the space, that is used for redirecting thrust and heat away from train.

 

Stardust chapter - How to define stars distance from earth

Stardust chapter uses Wikipedia's distance tables for setting star constellations distances from earth. Distance is an average from 10 most meaningful stars in the system :  Ursa Major  11, Draco  17, Lynx 25, Cepheus 28, Cassiopeia 30 and Ursa Minor 34 light years from Earth. With changed background data North Star came closer to Earth.  In Ursa Major, Dubhe star is closest to direct route from Earth to North Star.

Descriptive or 3D geometry allows you to estimate stars distances from earth. Estimation needs high precision star maps from winter, spring, summer and fall breaks. After you get the maps, you rotate them so, that they match. In 3D geometry closest stars move more than distant stars. Earth track around sun provides farthest observation points for stars. From the break day maps, you can estimate distances with stars movement in opposite maps. Name of this measuring system is Parallax. With maximal Earth and solar system distances, results are wild. Accurate Parallax measuring needs observation point in some other Centaurus star system. 

Laser radar, that works with x-Rays, doesn't need 2nd observation point. But it needs calibration parameter for eliminating possible speed losses. With adjustable x-Ray laser you can get readings from at least all visible stars. x-Ray laser can detect planets and moons, too. It is possible to build gaseous, vibrating pressure bulbs. With gaseous bulb you can get to higher frequencies than with mechanical bulb. Waves and Laser bulbs power can be boosted with hi-beams and flash lights rounded reflector system.

Star maps are nowadays made rather bluntly. Old star constellations are used as areas. All lights which are inside constellation's area, are counted into constellation. Therefore modern constellations can have distant galaxies and star clusters which are in the constellation's area. It is not possible for a galaxy to be anywhere near Earth and Sun. If most distant stars are placed to 1000 light years from earth, all galaxies must be over 10 000 light years from Earth. Galaxy, that shows as a star must be very far from Milky Way. Galaxies don't have a physical center, star like bright spot must come from the stars in the galaxy.

When you gaze stars with some optical device, optical devices can add and reduce lights into shown picture. So called double-stars for example are often created in the used telescope. Air humidity can sparkle like crystal. Telescope bring these invisible sparkling molecules into sight. Distance scrub colors from star shine. Due to fading colored spots in sight and telescope should be in our solar system and very close to earth.

First 48 star constellations were booked 2 200 years ago. Observation and naming times can be much older than booking times. After Greeks, during 17th and 18th century, 41 constellations were added to the list. Nowadays skies have 88 constellations.

It is quite obvious, that original constellation stars were defined with yearly day-break or some other system, that takes notice the distance to earth. Old constellations fill the sky with random basis. One constellation has stars with varying size and lightness levels. Old, well known constellations must have some system, with what old star gazers formed them. Besides estimated distance, old Greek legends talk about observations from the newly born stars and star constellations. Distance and birth time are the only ways, old star gazers could create named constellations. 

Interstellar trains

Interstellar trains have more car classes than other. Cars are 30 meters wide and 30 meters tall. There are few 60, 90 and 120 meter wide cars. Car lengths are 80, 40, 20 and 120 meters. All car classes are built from the same cage modules. First cars in the train are enforced, heat resistant cargo cars. 

Warp speed cruising needs warp craft. Warp craft creates a hole for towed car row. Warp speed cruising doesn't need enforced cars. Cars are the same, you use in common space trains. Therefore warp speed train must slow down in storm system, that can throw cars away from the aerodynamic hole. Long trains storm strength is smaller than short trains. Warp trains acceleration and deceleration times are long, in order to be capable of using common cars, Warp trains' accelerations and decelerations cannot be done faster than in common space train. Warp train cannot exhaust cars more than common train. Warp train can never have open cars and cars with varying widths and heights. Turbulences and air resistance forces tear non-standard cars into pieces. At warp speeds train is very clumsy, major course changes need, that train slows down.

Trains maximal non-stop trip times are three years. Time limit comes from food's maximal expiration times. Conserved and fried food remains good around 3 years. 

- Residential cars for settlers are unique to interstellar trains. Cruise cars with seats and cabins for few week trips, they match cruise ships.. Third passenger car is for short trips, third type works as substitute for planes, trains and buses.
- Trains have special cargo cars for hauled animals. In cargo cars animals live in boxes, pastures are possible. When train enters storm, animals are bound to floor. They are tranquilized and after that chain mountings are enforced with foam, that fills the box. Foam finalizes animals mounting to floor. Animals head is the only open thing, When you foam neck, scull stays at it's place and sleeping animal can breath.
- Cargo cars have two types. One car is for containers and another is open. Open cars floor counts and heights varies. Some open cars have tanks for hauling liquids and gases.

- Livestock has special car. Car has floors for hens and eggs,  cows and milk, pigs and meat. can breath. Livestock car has butcher, dairy  and  egg-packing units. Live stock car is not usually used when cruising. At destination car is opened and possibly dropped to the ground.
- Settler trains have workshop cars and cargo cars for manufactured products.
- During the trips to destination, settler train hauls interstellar passengers in cruise cars. 
- Settler trains have kinds of residential cars. There are cars for settlers and traveling labor. Labor cars are often dedicated by the task. They have workers temporal-permanent homes, workshops and raw material storages.

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Trip through constellations

In the story Sun is counted as a star in Centaurus constellation. Centaurus is big southern constellation, it has 18 stars. Sun connects to Alfa and Beta Centauri's. Alfa Centauri's name is Rigil Centauri or simply Rigil. Beta Centauri's name is Hadar. Lambda Centauri is third star, that is near Earth in planar star maps. Lambda's dimness hints, that it is quite a lot lower than Sun, Rigid and Hadar.

Rigil and Hadar are almost right under Dubhe in Big Dipper and Giausar in Dragon. Errai in Cepheus is the last pit stop in trip to North Star. Errai alias Cepheus Gamma is on the other side, than earlier stars. Story uses earlier average distances for setting Z-coordinates to constellations and their stars. Distances and visiting orders are not necessarily right. But you got to start from something. 

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Stars brightness is informed with apparent magnitude. Apparent magnitude is measured with cameras exposure system. Apparent magnitude is calculated and reversed mathematically from the sensor's reading. With these, magnitude comes from the star beam's flow power. Magnitude eliminates star's size on the lens. Measurement of apparent magnitude needs microscopic, high precision sensor elements. Cameras and lightning meters work with light sensitive resistors. Easy way to measure magnitudes is telescope, that has calibrated, separate exposure meter with adjustable measurement area. When you calibrate magnitude meter to the center of lens, it is easy to target the magnitude meter into stars. 

Direct sun light's magnitude is around -25. Brightest stars magnitude is around 0. Last visible stars magnitude is around 6. Stars whose magnitude is greater than 6 can be seen with telescopes only.  Alongside with apparent magnitude there is useless and very inaccurate absolute magnitude. In theory absolute magnitude says how bright some star is, but useful and truthful absolute magnitude would need stars accurate distances from earth.  When star has only one announced magnitude it is always apparent magnitude.

In principle magnitude has direct connection to star's distance from Earth. Rigil's magnitude is -0.01 and Hadar is 0.61. Dubhe in Ursa Major is 1.79, Giausar in Dragon is 3.82, Errai in Cepheus is 2.59,  Polaris in Ursa Minor is 1.97.  With magnitudes North Star is rather close to earth. Magnitudes are calculated with reversed logarithmical system.

Distance brings dispersion into stars lighting power. Stars size is another thing, that affects dispersion effect.  Star dust and others fade stars much like clouds hide sun.

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Light wave doesn't lose it's brightness, when distance grows. It shows best, when you drive car on highway during night time. You can see incoming cars' lights right after car comes into your sight. When car gets closer, it's lights don't get any brighter. But lights flow power starts to hinder your eyes. Car, that comes with hi-beams, makes you temporarily blind. Lights and also stars brightness can be checked from digital photos.

It is well known, that sky's blue color is born in atmosphere. At equator sky is gray, blue color comes with distance to equator. Similar kind of coloring effects are possible also with star beams. From rainbows and evening suns we know, that all colors are possible. Ocean and lake waters blue colors are born with the same system. Water is colorless substance.

When you look at moon, it has rather clear and stable division to darker and lighter areas. During the night division system moves slowly. Movement cannot come from Moon's rotation around Earth or Earth's rotation around it's axle. Estimated earlier, that bright areas are water, dark areas continents. Moon day could last 24 hours, just like earth day ... on each time zone, moon shows a different face.

Star maps and space coordinates

Space objects location is defined with two coordinates. In star maps Right Ascension defines object's place on common 2 dimensional N-E-W-E map. Objects Up-Down position is defined with declination angle. On two dimensional star map hint for declination angle is given as distance from center. Stars near center are right above and below earth. Star maps follow your sight on either northern or southern hemisphere.

Space X-Y axis's and planes are aligned with Earth's equator. Star, whose declination angle is 0, rotates at the same level with equator. Declination angle is the angle against X-Y planar and equator.

Right Ascension is divided with 24 hour clock. North is at zero hour, south is at noon. Didn't find a system, how directions are defined. In general star maps, Pisces are in the north or zero hour. Orion is at 6 o'clock, Virgo in the noon.

Declination angle goes from -90 to 90 degrees. Degrees are divided to minutes and seconds. Computer needs that you convert minutes and seconds into fractions of degree. Space coordinate system leaves distances to stars open. 

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Earth's rotation around it axis changes visible sector in the sky all the time. When you gaze stars, you must search the visible sector for your location. After that you can use date and time for estimating your current view from the sky. Quite many define their gazing location with visible constellations and their current looks.

When you for example gaze North star, it is right above you only at north pole. At equator North Star is in your horizon. You don't tilt your neck for watching it. You look straight forwards, with zero tilt angle in your neck. Earth's rotation forces you to turn around with the hour. Seasons and dates changes Earth's absolute night and star gazing times. If we set midnight of 1st January to absolute midnight, during summers wintertime's absolute midnight takes place at noon.

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