2. 3 maintain the required geometry as the entire configuration orbits about the Sun. Since sunlight beams are virtually parallel at LS, the distance between the flat mirror and the colony can be as large as necessary for safety. The rectangular shadow reflector, also a low-mass trusswork supporting a reflective surface, intercepts sunlight before it can impinge on the colony and increase its thermal input. Attitude control systems maintain its position between the colony and the Sun. Its distance from the colony is large (2 km) so that it does not interfere with the thermal radiation of the colony's waste heat into space. II.3.2: The Colony: Figure 2.2 presents a closer view of the colony itself, with dimensions. In its general details, the colony is symmetrical around its spin axis. Agriculture and habitation take place within a double-hull, consisting of a cylindrical section with length of 100m and outer radius 105 meters, capped by hemispherical endcaps. At the tip of one endcap is a docking port providing access to the colony interior through an air lock. A transfer pod brings cargo to or from the docking port. Both transfer pod and cargo air lock are sized to handle a Space Shuttle payload {a cylinder Sm in diameter and 18m long). The elliptical flat mirror shown in Figure 2.1 reflects parallel beams of sunlight at the colony. The outer beams of this reflection impinge on the colony's annular solar cell array. These solar cells generate 9.3Sxl0 6 watts of electrical power for the colony's consumption. Light from the flat mirror also shines on the colony's parabolic mirror (whose support structure is not shown in Figure 2.2). This mirror concentrates the sunlight towards a second mirror. The second mirror in turn reflects the light as a concentrated parallel beam along the spin axis. This beam enters the colony through a 20-meter-radius window. This sunlight path is illustrated in Figure 2.3, a cutaway view of the colony. Once inside, the concentrated light is dispersed by a set of mirrors onto the colony's agricultural area.
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