2.11 II.5.3: Assembly and Testing: Figure 2.6 depicts the major components of the colony construction site. The largest element is the power plant, a square solar-cell array 661m on each side, generating 60 Megawatts. From its support structure extend four 150m-long trusswork booms, connecting the power plant to a rectangular trllsswork frame. This frame, 310m long and 220m wide, brackets the assembly volume for the colony's double hull. Along this frame move two circular trusswork cranes, 220 meters in diameter. Their motion along the frame sweeps out a cylinder surrounding the assembly volume. One width of the frame forms the center of a 400m-long trusswork mast, which provides attachment points for the work crew's living quarters and the construction cylinders (called 'shacks') which contain the machinery described in Sections II.5.1 and II.5.2. Along the mast runs a hoist to move people and material between the living quarters, assembly volume, and work shacks. The 20m x 20m hull sections and Sm x 20m bulkhead sections produced by the work shacks are grabbed by manipulators on the hoist, moved along the mast, and transferred to a crane. The crane moves the section to its assembly point and positions it while workers fasten it in. Once the hull is completed, the parabolic mirror, the solarcell array, and the docking port are added, and the construction apparatus is detached from the colony and moved away. The total mass of the construction site (frame, cranes, mast, booms, power array, living quarters, work shacks and machinery) is 10,946 metric tons, and its total electrical power consumption is 60,298 kilowatts. The work force builds up from an initial crew of 50 people to a peak of 160 workers during assembly. The component quality is assured during manufacturing and fabrication by ultrasonic and eddy current inspection techniques. Samples are also sent to Earth for proof testing. The structure is reinspected after assembly with the same ultrasonic and eddy current techniques. To supplement these component inspections, the completed structure is also given two proof tests: overpressure and overspin. Any failures detected are repaired before the final installation of agriculture and inhabitants.
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