Green Sleeves
“Space farming ain’t like jumping through hyperspace boy! You got have patience, lots of water and thousands of kilometers of tubing.”
A 100-word piece of Sci-fi minutia
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Green Sleeves are man made leaves that float in deep space; connected to space stations and orbital habits by long umbilicals. The first sleeves were translucent boxes made of a poly-hydrocarbon that filtered out dangerous radiation. The standard dimensions were 500m by 500m by 4m. They were filled with phytoplankton or algae that had to be harvested and processed. Modern sleeves are made from monomolecular carbon nets. Their surface area is several square kilometers but their depth is a few centimeters. These sleeves contain trillions of pigmented microscopic phospholipids discs that carry out photosynthesis and produce pure O2 and sugar.
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? Responses (21)
I'm guessing that these are ment to harvest energy from a star, placed somewhere in the orbit of a planet, or perhaps arranged in a dyson sphere around the star itself, but this isn't made very clear. I see a lot of interesting science, I'm especially intrigued by the phospholipid discs. I wonder why manufactured cells would be more efficient than their biological analogues. Hopefully that's something we'll see expanded in the future.
I think there's a strong, innovative idea here, but right now it looks more like just that, an idea, rather than a post. Perhaps this is just too technical of a subject to encompass in a 100-word post. There's some awesome hard sci-fi here, it's just waiting to happen.
It was really hard to get this down to 100 words. I had to cut a lot info. about molecular transport in the sleeves, free radical sinks and why multi cellular sleeve cultures are less efficient then cell free sleeves. I just don't think flat floating greenhouses are worth more than 100 words.
I just don't think flat floating greenhouses are worth more than 100 words.
-Axle
Strangely I think this was too long...
-Montreve
I love this place! lol
This is a cool idea. Strangely I think this was too long...
The idea of the 100 word post (as I understand it) is to give the skeleton, and let others flesh it out in their mind, or in their setting.
Great idea, I just think it could be better refined into a 100 words or better expanded into a longer post.
Also, I think you meant that instead of the in the first line.
Pretty cool sci-fi for a 100 words. Sounds like something from a book or movie.
Like Roack, I'd like to know more!
Clever concept. I was thinking that these could be used to grow crops in the vacuum of space. Basically infinite farmland. But it looks like you're shooting at a source of O2 and sugar (and possibly energy). That's actually a really cool idea, but why can't we have both? Green Sleeves seem more than capable vessles to accomplish food, oxygen, and energy.
After editing, this is lot more streamlined and coherent of an idea. It's clearer what the sleeves are for and how they are used, but enough room is left for the imagination. Revoted.
This one deserves the full sub treatment, there's too much potential to cover in a mere 100 words when it comes to something so complex.
As a inspiration for a quick window dressing in a scifi setting it's good to go, but I would dearly love to see more of this, it's the start of something special.
Neat idea, but I can't have complete suspension of disbelief here. Not gonna work in a vacuum:( But cool idea.
why
I just have one question. How do space ships dock with a bunch of Sleeves hanging around the station?
carefully?
Well for one reason there isn't any Co2 in space to allow the plant to grow...and besides water is also a resource plants need and there isn't any in space either...and if there was, it would be frozen and the plant would also freeze and stop or kill the growth process.... space is about 3 kelvin.
...and radiation...and depressurization... all the gases that are int he plant would disperse and blow the plant to pieces...this would happen almost immediately. But in a fantasy world they could probably exist:)
I think you failed to grasp the nature of what I wished to describe. My fault, maybe it does need to be longer than 100 words.
It does not take too much to resist a vacuum - plastic can handle it easily. Contrary to popular belief, even people do not explode in space.
I see these as sealed systems - you would simply add water and co2 any time you come to pickup the produce.
Radiation is less of an issue for plants - especially if you are not planning on eating them.
To expand on this, people are considering building habitable spaces using essentially balloons.
Vacuum only 'sucks' because the air-pressure we (and plants) need is quite high, exerting about 15 PSI. Apparently, plants may be able to survive lower pressures then us, so 15PSI may be excessive.
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2009.0362
yeah that's cool... from what I read your 'leaves' float about in space and they are used as a source for docking and living organisms to replenish? All that being said plants can not renew them sleves as we know them they need an atmosphere
I think I get it now as I re-read it a few times and looked between the lines. The nets are a sort of sack that holds the phytoplankton or algae and the umbilical cord is sort of a symbiotic connection to the stations. The cords allow passage of nutrients from each body? Like I said cool idea, just might not be able to suspend complete disbelief...cheers:)
A great concept. It could work!
Fantastic bit of fluff 5/5
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