logoalt Hacker News

floatintoday at 7:32 PM1 replyview on HN

Could use empty plastic water tanks in the walls and have a satellite in orbit that already has the water onboard and they just transfer the water back to the satellite before returning to earth. Water blocks radiation very well it’s the reason we use pools of it to store fuel rods when they are not in reactors.


Replies

serftoday at 7:53 PM

this is a common concept in space-craft thought experiments because of the dual-use nature; can shield yourself with a big water balloon essentially at the tip of the space craft to catch all those pesky extra energetic particles that are bombarding you against your fantastically high velocity, while also providing water to grow things in, or whatever.

then neutron activation becomes even more nuanced because it affects not only your craft/infrastructure/armor but your semi-perishable goods.