tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post5543391170921868648..comments2023-10-08T02:46:24.823-07:00Comments on Bootstrapping Space: ClothingChris Wolfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-50986594938367594182016-01-05T13:48:27.266-08:002016-01-05T13:48:27.266-08:00The production numbers in my post don't includ...The production numbers in my post don't include an allowance for a quilt; I included it in the list of items for comparison. It is not very clear from the post itself, my apologies.<br /><br />I agree that a civilian habitat is likely to have independent climate control for occupants, and that keeping a 'shorts and short sleeves' environment to minimize clothing requirements is probably more effective than maximizing the climate system's efficiency.<br /><br />We could take this further and assume the station is kept at a comfortable temp for swimwear (or for nudists). That would cut the requirements down to perhaps 2kg per person, though some occupations would need more for safety reasons.<br /><br />I prefer 74 °F and about 40% RH, while my wife prefers about 82 °F and 60-70% RH. She would definitely want a quilt or heavy shawl if the station's temp was kept low. (She would also be extremely happy if we moved to the tropics, while I would be utterly miserable.)<br /><br />Central equipment is more efficient than distributed units in most cases. It is also more efficient (up to a point) to allow a larger hysteresis range of temperatures; a station may swing between 65 °F and 85 °F simply to keep the number of start cycles down.<br /><br /> Someone planning to operate an actual station would have to trade between environmental system efficiency and wear vs. clothing allowances at various points.<br /><br /><br />Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-53680654715336594462015-12-20T12:39:31.442-08:002015-12-20T12:39:31.442-08:00Quilts? We can maintain a constant, comfortable t...Quilts? We can maintain a constant, comfortable temperature. Why do you need a quilt?Loren Pechtelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08348494458707790769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-9454706536267905072015-11-09T14:18:44.170-08:002015-11-09T14:18:44.170-08:00That would be very useful. So much simpler to buil...That would be very useful. So much simpler to build something out of bamboo than go to the trouble of making plastic.<br /><br />I know; those numbers probably make me seem a bit crazy. They don't reflect my own consumption habits, but that's because I know I'm more conservative than average about buying new clothes. I used such aggressive numbers for two reasons: first, by adding new garments before the old ones wear out you can build up a stock of clothing in various states of wear. It's useful to have 'nice' clothes as well as 'painting' clothes, as it were. Second, I prefer to overshoot so there is enough margin to account for unusual wear for a given occupation and a bit of cushion in general. There was very little real data backing those estimated replacement rates. I'd imagine there are military sources with good data on wear for soldiers, but those numbers are likely to be a lot higher than for civilians. Might be a good fit for the engineering division / maintenance though.Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-60974931739845461472015-11-09T05:41:23.013-08:002015-11-09T05:41:23.013-08:00Snap! I see dwarf bamboo, genetically bonsai'd...Snap! I see dwarf bamboo, genetically bonsai'd to mature at 2 meters high, as a source of all-purpose fabric, and its chips also double as a sawdust replacement when making pykrete. <br /><br />Also, my socks and underwear last a lot longer than six months. Just sayin'. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07434144555916722043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-73262144432450853652015-10-23T10:44:13.487-07:002015-10-23T10:44:13.487-07:00I neglected to mention children. They need clothes...I neglected to mention children. They need clothes a bit more frequently but they need less material for each set. Should even out.<br />(Actually my kids go through clothes at about the same rate as the original post. In the last ten years I've bought 12 work shirts; 8 of them are still serviceable. I used a pretty high estimate to account for a variety of jobs and hobbies.)Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-49361044430625504792015-10-23T10:31:51.309-07:002015-10-23T10:31:51.309-07:00Excellent idea. I'd probably not want to wear ...Excellent idea. I'd probably not want to wear that against the skin and there's a potential inhalation hazard from shed fiber fragments, but as an outer layer with heat and chemical resistance it would be very useful for engineering coveralls. Equipment to make silica fibers would also be useful for making rockwool insulation and rooting media.Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-63738484376154914392015-10-23T10:18:12.015-07:002015-10-23T10:18:12.015-07:00Bamboo has bast fibers, similar to flax and hemp. ...Bamboo has bast fibers, similar to flax and hemp. Most things referred to as 'bamboo fiber' are actually rayon made with bamboo as a feedstock, but true bamboo fiber is possible. The raw material is high in lignin, so processing is often a combination of mechanical chopping and chemical or enzyme boosted bacterial retting. Lots more details here:<br />http://www.tlist-journal.org/paperInfo.aspx?ID=5427<br /><br />The tenacity of those fibers is less than half that of cotton. The resulting cloth won't be as durable or tough, but still falling between wool and rayon. That is to say, still useful and with a reportedly pleasant feel.<br /><br />The yield of bamboo basts can be as high as 53 tonnes per hectare (5.365kg/m² or 14.7g/m² per day). As long as the net fiber yield is at least 15% of the gross bast mass then it is competitive with cotton. If it is over 31% then it is competitive with hemp.<br />yield source:<br />http://www.inbar.int/sites/default/files/bamboo%20plantation%20-%20highyield%20stands.pdf<br /><br />If we look back a ways (1909), at least one author noted yields as high as 44 tons per acre (an eye-popping 98.6 tonnes per hectare) and fiber yields as high as 44%.<br />source:<br />Congressional Serial Set: pulp and paper investigation hearings. 1 January 1909. (available free)<br />http://tinyurl.com/npkrgn3<br /><br />Let's go with the modern optimistic yield (while noting that high-intensity hydroponics can almost certainly double that value) and a fiber yield of, say, 38%. That would give a fiber yield of 5.6g/m² per day or about 6.1m² per person. The plants require a three-year lead time and a third of the stand is harvested each year. Waste from this process would be suitable for paper or fuel alcohol.<br /><br /> I think the main drawback would be that bamboo grows very tall. A dwarf species could be found that grows to 4m after three years, but it's not certain the yield numbers would still apply. Even so, that's about 25m³ per person. Cotton by contrast grows to perhaps 130cm. Allowing 20cm for lighting and nutrient systems, that same 4m space could house two stacked crops. If a mild dwarf variety of cotton was developed that matured to 110cm or less, three stacked crops could occupy the same space and would become competitive again on a floor-space and volume basis.<br /><br />Another drawback is that bamboo requires several years to develop for this purpose. Peak fiber yields occur at three years. Peak structural strength is typically seen around 5 years. For paper pulp or wattle it can be taken at 1-2 years.<br /><br />Those drawbacks are certainly opposed by several advantages unique to bamboo. It's a structural material, can be used similar to wood (buttons, flooring, furniture) and resists bacterial and fungal attack. Bamboo resists high-pH environments and can be embedded in concrete; it could serve as the tension member in a reinforced regolith-block construction if metal is scarce.Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-18644010048925676992015-10-23T09:37:45.839-07:002015-10-23T09:37:45.839-07:00Beta cloth is also a good candidate for durable ou...Beta cloth is also a good candidate for durable outer wear. It's non-flammable, completely recyclable and made from silica fibers, a major component of lunar regolith. The Apollo/Skylab spacesuits used it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_clothJohn Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09473002808553505715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192883022973901942.post-1063006829258668132015-10-23T00:53:27.861-07:002015-10-23T00:53:27.861-07:00I notice you've not included bamboo as a poten...I notice you've not included bamboo as a potential fibre source. It is an unusual fibre for clothing, I will grant that, but it is becoming increasingly used for things like socks and undergarments that need to breathe. The trick would be the methods used to process it into cloth, since some require reasonably harsh chemicals that may not be readily available in a colony. (I'm also having trouble finding how much bamboo is required per square metre of cloth.)<br /><br />Bamboo is fast growing, doesn't require much cultivation space and shows promise as a building material in other applications relevant to colonising space, so it seems reasonable that it will make up some portion of the textile needs as well. Particularly for the more commonly replaced undergarments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com