starship-design: Does a one-way mission need mining?

[TLG.van.der.Linden@tip.nl (Timothy van der Linden)]

Hi Kelly,

>>-- If not, then you probably can carry more
>>than enough supplies instead of the fuel for the return trip.
>>So assuming we get the fuel in the target system, there has to be some not
>>so small unit (probably multiple units) that mines asteroids or planets for
>>fuel.
>>For a one-way mission that not so small unit can be replaced by many small
>>specialized units that can be used for all (un)thinkable repairs.
>
>Possibly.  If you alot a few thousand tons of specialized gear for mining and
>refining, you could asume a similar amount for extra spares and suplies.

I wasn't thinking of so much of mining. It would probably be more useful to
store some amount of refined materials onboard. With smaller equipment these
materials and broken (but still rather pure) parts could be made into
whatever new parts are needed.
(Maybe some of these refined materials could be used in the shielding)
Furthermore we wouldn't need to use the same refinement methods used here on
Earth. Earthbound economic refinement methods likely have to be energy
efficient and usable for bulk amounts, these requirements wouldn't be needed
for a starship where energy is supposed to be abundant.

Timothy