The Prologue
The Present
A conclusion in the Report to the Club of Rome:The Limits to Growth states: "...within a time spanof less than 100 years with no major change inthe physical, economic, or social relationships thathave traditionally governed world development,society will run out of the nonrenewable resourceson which the industrial base depends. When theresources have been depleted, a precipitouscollapse of the economic system will result,manifested in massive unemployment, decreasedfood production, and a decline in population as thedeath rate soars. There is no smooth transition,no gradual slowing down of activity; rather, theeconomic system consumes successively largeramounts of the depletable resources until theyare gone. The characteristic behavior of thesystem is overshoot and collapse."
Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation onEconomic Trends and the Greenhouse CrisisFoundation, in Biosphere Politics: A NewConsciousness for a New Century (Crown Publishers,New York 1991) reports how industrialized anddeveloped nations exploit the sea beds of the worldfor their rich deposits of industrial minerals andmetals. He notes that the struggle between richand poor nations and multinational corporations overminerals in the vast oceanic seabed is likely to beheated in the years to come, especially as reservesof land-based minerals approach exhaustion.
News media reported in October 2000 that thePeople's Republic of China announced plans toexplore Earth's moon for useful substances. OnOctober 15, 2003 the PRC launched into Earthorbit its first manned rocket.
In a speech on January 14, 2004 the President ofthe United States of America unveiled a new visionfor space exploration. He called on the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to"...gain a new foothold on the moon and to preparefor new journeys to worlds beyond our own."
"We do not know where this journey will end," saidthe President, "yet we know this: Human beings areheaded into the cosmos." White House Press Release,January 14, 2004.
##
The Future
The Interstellar Mining and Teleport System
The System consists of two terminals, each ofwhich includes an integral, fully robotized capabilityto conduct internal command-and-control,self-maintenance and repair, and logistical,teleportation, communications and other functionsand operations essential to its unique mission. Theterminal positioned in orbit above Alpha Centauri isdesignated the Extractor and the terminal positionedalong the Solar System's rim is designated theCollector.
The Extractor selects and draws pre-designatedelements, minerals and other usable substancesfrom the Alpha Centauri star system, and collects,accumulates, converts and channels the matterinto its spunnel transmission subsystem for directinterstellar transfer to the Collector.
The Collector receives the product, convertsit into its original form, identifies, classifies,quantifies and records constituents and mass;refines and ejects the raw product for transportto and storage along the solar rim or at a locationthat Authority determines to be more suitable.
The Extractor and Collector terminals areconstructed four million kilometers beyond PlanetPluto. During the System's research, development,test, evaluation, engineering, construction, launchand voyage phases, the terminals are spunnel-linkedand tested both as separate machines with theirsupport systems, and as the integrated masterscheme.
During construction the System is linked to PlanetPluto, employing mass attractors, orbital dynamicscontrols and stabilizers, and other means, asappropriate.
The System Authority possesses and Commands aSelf-Defense Force under Powers delegated by thePresident of the United Inner Planetary System(UIPS).
At launch, disengage the Extractor fleet from theSolar System's gravitational and other constraintsemploying Planet Pluto's outbound orbital momentumplus augmentation thrusters in a manner that theExtractor fleet retains its integrity in transit todestination, and on station in perpetuity.
Position the Extractor in orbit above AlphaCentauri at a location commensurate with dataprovided previously by drone scouts. Authority,at all times, maintains surveillance and exercisescontrol over operations and support systems, andanalyses of the Extractor's functions, structuresand equipment.
The Collector is positioned along the solar rim, orelsewhere, as determined by Authority. The Collectoris fixed to the Extractor's product launch nodes,functions and operations, and to the Extractor'sorbital dynamics at destination.
The Extractor, operating at destination, analyzes,selects, and draws substance from proximateasteroids, comets, satellites, planetoids, spacedebris, swarms, star surfaces, subsurface and otheraccessible bodies and strata, reduces the substanceto teleportable constituents (the product), loadsthe product into launch hoppers and dispatchesit to the Collector.
Critical to the program's success is timing theExtractor's launch. Piggy-backed to Planet Plutoduring construction, the Extractor uses theplanet's orbital momentum for launch. The launchwindow is precise and short-lived along PlanetPluto's outbound orbit; there is only one launchopportunity in centuries for the Extractor.
Disengaged from Pluto, the Extractor fleetaccelerates along its course to optimum velocitythrough integrated thrust of augmented thrustersor other more advanced propulsion systems thatare or become available in time to accomplish theObjective.
##
The Terminals and their command and control,supporting research and development schemesand projects, facilities, spunnel teleport and otherlogistics and communications networks, surface andspace stations and outposts is formally designatedThe Interstellar Mining and Transport System.Authority acknowledges that the mission, launch andassets acquisition processes intrigued the whimsicalfancy of the solar community during pre-programdefinition studies and the System was nicknamed"Slingshot".
THE UNIVERSE -- or nothing