Added an image to the Galactia phase section of TMP2;

http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/Starships

This picture is my rough and speculative illustration of starships of the
Galactia phase. They also represent aspects of Solaria era spacecraft, being
based on the proposed NanoFoam composition suggested as a common basis of most
artifacts of that period and 'grown' instead of 'constructed'. Three forms are
shown; a passenger cruiser, an automated colonial seed carrier, and a possibly
earlier external propulsion seed carrier/scout based on the Powell-Pellegrino
anti-matter towing thruster concept. Note the difference in scales relative to
the original Savage vision. Savage assumed pre-settlement based on large slower
cargo vessels carrying large amounts of initial settlement supplies. In TMP2 we
have the premise that NanoFoam carries integral to it the bulk of the
civilization's technical potential and thus the pre-settlement phase is based on
NanoFoam seed 'pods' that subsume and convert available local materials into
suitable habitats autonomously and without the need for an infrastructure other
than that based on NanoFoam itself. So we have a reversal of relative scales
with the passenger carrier larger by virtue of more in-flight supplies and the
need for a comfortable living space during a decade long flight and direct
conversion to orbital habitat on arrival.


Eric Hunting
erichunting@...