Orbit: Looking for Libido by Steve Bodansky




I have no official release date as of yet but probably in about three months. If you would like an ARC, please email me at stevebodansky@gmail.com

Here is a teaser from the book.
Barrett was assigned to the team that was working on the construction and fabrication of living spaces, once a planet could be reached and colonized. Barrett had another idea pop into his mind from being in the cold of Siberia. The environments that he was placed in seemed to have that effect on him. He had the thought and again first confided in Nicole.
“If enough energy was available, then a planet that was a little too cold to be in the “Goldilocks” zone could be functional to support life. Man-introduced energy could melt the ice to help foster survival, as long as the planet or the planet’s moon had ice that is. It would make no sense to go to a planet without H2O. Liquid water is best. Steam would be way too hot but ice could be manageable. So maybe we could colonize a closer solar system than we have previously thought possible. Once we melt the ice, we could perhaps vaporize some of the water to make oxygen too,” Barrett said.
Continuing the lecture, “I don’t think the planets in our solar system are worthy subjects for a long-term colony but such moons of Saturn such as Titan that has ice-mountains could be temporarily colonized as a learning facility. We could melt that ice, use it for water purposes and create oxygen too from that water. The atmosphere is really thick so it would keep colonists better protected than on Mars from cosmic rays and other radiation. People could live above ground on Titan. On Mars or on the moon they have to live underground or at least have radiation proof habitats, something that my group is working on here. The thick atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and there are lakes and rivers of methane on this moon too. Gravity is about 15% of Earth’s, so people could get around, jump around, even fly a bit if they strapped on some form of wings or arm extensions.
With enough energy we could create artificial photosynthesis. There is not much sunlight reaching Titan that could do that otherwise. There are an abundance of carbon compounds that could be used as fuels too. I don’t think that we would have to worry about Titan getting too warm from climate change. A wind farm in the atmosphere tethered to the ground could also help produce more energy. And the view of the ringed planet would be spectacular.”
“I like the idea of flying but it’s way colder than this place and this place is too cold for me. I like the sunshine. I don’t think that I will sign up for that mission, no matter how spectacular the view, unless of course we could surf on the methane lakes. Then maybe I would give it a try,” Nicole said, as she jumped in the air pretending to take off and fly, landing on the couch. She would have liked it if Barrett had jumped on top of her but she did not say anything.





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