the biosphere research center is a relatively small station, not much larger than twice the size of the gravitational wheels found on many stations, but are almost spherical, built int he shape of a bucky ball, from synthetic hydrocarbon rods and fused silicate glass. the station has one entrance, within the center of the sphere. there is a tunnel straight through the poles of the sphere, that acts as it's gravitational center. it spins around the tunnel.

the spinning creates a gravitational push against the outside shell. the outer glass shell of the sphere is filled with water, plants, and microorganisms. the water is forced against he outside by the gravity, creating a mini oceanic environment, like a donut of water.

this farm relies on aquean ore, ferric ore, and nanofeeds to grow, but produce an abundance of food and raw materials to weave civilian textiles, as well as research data to produce medical supplies. These mini stations would be central to recovery efforts and in the pioneering of uncharted territory. when these stations find themselves in surplus of aquean ore, their purification units tank the excess for sale as well, able to supply half a system or more with purified water. often, soil deliveries from planet side contain overlooked precious metals... could go on and on.

the relative simplicity of the structures would allow station owners to collect more raw materials and add additional spheres to their complex, increasing production capabilities and profit margins.

would be so cool.

a very well presented suggestion. i like it very much

this would be a most welcome addition to the arming of space we see elsewhere in the universe

Sounds awesome.

Problem with that idea is that your system is too small, to have enough rotation to create a suitable gravity of 1, it would need to be at least as large as the rotating hab ring, which IMO is also too small. You need something at least half mile in diameter for it to not me nausiating being inside. Besides, VO has artificial gravity so why waste your time building a rotating station anyway, other then for looks?

How would it be nausiating inside if the ring is smaller then a half a mile? To the person inside, the ring doesn't appearing moving at all unless they look out a window out a window. The person inside will not fell dizzy because the fluid in the person's head is moving with the body.

Err, there are problems with spinning things for gravity. It only appears to be like gravity for things that aren't moving.

If you run spinward, you'll get heavier, if you run anti-spinward you'll actually get lighter.

I wasan't suggesting that the living/working quarters spin. the outer surface spins to keep the water pressed to the glass, so that the ocean keeps to the outside, and the plants can grow in towards the center tube, which contains the entrance, lights, storage, manufacturing... etc. it's a small station, perhaps owner operated, or run by a small group of hippy farmers.

so the water stays near the floor where the fake gravity is while the plants grow in almost 0 G??? 0_o Just turn on the artificial gravity�c

I'm confused as to why you need artificial gravity for growing things, hydroponics already can do this without. And this is the 21st century, not the 43rd

I'm saying if "in the game world" he wants to use gravity, why not just use the future tech to achive what he wants, don't need to create a centrafuge.

I think that water, moving in a spinning sphere, would be logical and look great. artificial gravity or not, a sperical station with water to the outside would make sense for a design like this, as you want to have one central light source.

squares are boring.

It's all about the dodecahedrons.

[Stamp of Approval] I like the idea, perhaps the station might jet steam into space?

i ike the idea, but why make the shpere out of glass? there doesn't seem to be any designe reason for it to need to have a transparent floor under the dirt.

as for the whole gravity thing, maybe it rotates to aid the artaficial gravity generators so they can be maintained at a lower energy level to mak ethe station run more economicaly.

To make it look cool, damn it! ;-)

i think its great.

i think it should be a bunch of burnt out hippies from Ikan who are fed up with the hypocrisy of itani lifestyle. they move to serco or grayspace and set up a commune. you can buy wheatgrass juice there. they will paint your ship in a special color that is only available there: rainbow

...how would you apply it? just a cool new station graphic?

and on a more practical level, how would you dock with it? an axial bay?

Either a bay that spins opposite the direction of the station so it will not move or use a stationary holographic docking route. Your ship would fly up to it, then you would hit enter like any other dock. Movie graphics will start to play. Your ship starts to rotate around the station while guided by the station computers. Once your sychronized, your ship will fly into the dock. This could also be used to provide a variety in docking to make the game more interesting.

first thing I want to say, is wings 3d is a royal pain in the ass! whew.

this was just a sketch, I would have rathered used a bucky ball shape, but the geodesic dome plugin wouldn't seem to work in wigs...

to dock, you'd fly into the red ring, and there would be a dock inside, the tube would be filled with normal station like pipes and windows and lights, and wouldn't spin. the outer glass shell spins. the fatter cylindrical section in the middle would be city-ish like most stations, with the windows and lights... and maybe some seaweedy plants or something, floating around inside, but not neccessary

I was messing around with wings, trying to get a better grasp of it, and made another biosphere model to play with... I'm curious to hear whatchall think.

http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_1.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_2.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_3.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_4.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_5.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_6.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_7.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_8.jpg
http://mellowvision.com/vendetta/bs2_9.jpg