mikelepage: asteroid-pit bola station (2023)

Design summary

Concept. AG bolas first act as ships, then "land" at an asteroid pole on a non-rotating node. Robots dig a cylindrical pit so the bola rotates surrounded by asteroid mass mikelepage, 2023-09-15.
Shielding. Landing blocks ~50% of GCR, and onboard shielding blocks 40% of the rest: ~70% (~180 mSv/yr). Digging to 75% blocked gives ~85% (~90 mSv/yr).
Build-out. Wall-E-style sintering spider robots; additional bolas stacked at the central node (double helix), with their ends joined into a station; a regolith dome.
Network. Shielded asteroid stations as a transit network (a public-transport analogy); route-finding among 43 Apollo asteroids near Psyche mikelepage, 2023-09-17; mikelepage, 2023-10-03.
Pedestal variant. A pedestal module fixed at the asteroid's pole; the centrifuge controls an outer cage; the asteroid acts as a counterbalance for electric spin-up; swap N/S poles twice per orbit to stay dark mikelepage, 2024-01-31.
Motivation. The power needed for magnetic shielding is unreasonable for long-term habitation, so passive shielding must come from asteroids mikelepage, 2023-09-15.

LMT: the 2008 EQ → Psyche window comes once per 35 years; the analogy is deceptive LMT, 2023-09-15.
Coastal Ron sees it as a successor to his Mars-g station: brainstorming without judging Coastal Ron, 2023-09-15.