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[Unholy_Pariah]

Well, technically, you don't. This is space, you don't need to have a giant dock to put your ships in.

Technically we do, because unless we research modular design and construction our current "small naval shipyard" is limited to producing corvette and frigate sized ships.

[10ebbor10]

We don't need modular design. Technically, we can just use the SCD's to build everything. It will take an eternity, but it will work.

[Unholy_Pariah]

We don't need modular design. Technically, we can just use the SCD's to build everything. It will take an eternity, but it will work.

"BEST IDEA GET!"

Find biggest oval shaped asteroid, mine to depletion, hollow and reinforce, add thrusters.

no need for large shipyards

[10ebbor10]

Do take a metallic asteroid. Nothing less silly than having your spaceship slowly vaporize due to it's own heat.

[RadtheCad]

But we're running out of interior space.  It can't be *that* large, and even if it is, it bears to have space added or to be replaced.  Besides, it's still horribly damaged.

Oops.  Replies.  Ahem.

I support finding and hollowing out a huge metallic asteroid.  We'd do it anyway, may as well make a base inside.

[10ebbor10]

The second problem explains the first. We can't use the majority of the internal space because most of it is horribly damaged. Also, we stuffed quite a lot of spacious things in it.

[RadtheCad]

The second problem explains the first. We can't use the majority of the internal space because most of it is horribly damaged. Also, we stuffed quite a lot of spacious things in it.

So relocate to an asteroid!  Maybe put the satellite inside or on the surface.

[10ebbor10]

The thing might be horribly damaged, but for the moment it still provides more protection than a hypothetical rock.

[RadtheCad]

We're just saying let's find a rock (I mean a big-ass rock) and use it.  This is just planning for what we should do next, and an actual rock would be better in almost every way from this once we'd done some work on it.

[Unholy_Pariah]

The thing might be horribly damaged, but for the moment it still provides more protection than a hypothetical rock.

but only because the rock is hypothetical, 3 feet of hull armor < 30+ feet of rock + 3 feet of steel + vacuum gap + 3 feet of hull armor.

unfortunately we cant relocate there yet, we first have to find a suitable asteroid and then we have to hollow it out and begin construction of the internal structure, might as well repair our hull in the meantime.

[RadtheCad]

Ok.  If you promise we can dismantle the repaired hull sections when the hypothetical asteroid is ready for inhabitation, then I'll +1 hull repairs.

[Zako]

I don't think you guys quite understand just how BIG some of these rocks that are floating out in space can get. They can get up to KILOMETERS big and be made from thousands if not millions or for the REAL asteroid that we would be interested in making ships from, TRILLIONS, of tons of material. Guys, we literally have MINES on some of these rocks right now, they are that big!

Now, if you want to make a ship out of an asteroid, then you want to do it right. Go big or go home, in other words. Personally, if are making a ship from an asteroid, then I say we don't make a ship, we make a goddamn BATTLESTATION from a seriously big hunk of rock (one with large amounts of metals in it of course), like Battlestation Troy from the Troy Rising series. In that, the cast basically makes a perfect sphere from a suitable asteroid while keeping it constantly in a semi-molten state, made a large hole in one end to the center of the rock, and shoved a comet into it. The sudden cooling and trapped expanding gases made the whole thing blow up like a balloon until it stopped with a hull that was a kilometre and a half thick and made completely from iron. On the inside, it had enough space to hold a city and factories, which is more than enough room than we would ever need. The whole damn thing weighed over 7 trillion tons (which makes it a viable battering ram against basically EVERYTHING).

Be inventive guys. Rock isn't all that durable, it's what it can be made into that works well. Use your imagination and don't limit yourselves with just small scale stuff!

[10ebbor10]

That doesn't actually work, you know. It's science fiction for a reason*. In reality, the rock would have disintegrated pretty quickly. Also, you don't seem to have your scales right. A small asteroid is a few kilometers large, a large one has a diameter of 300 km or more.

1) Keeping the asteroid in a semi molten state is problematic. Liquids vaporize pretty much instantly in a vacuum, after all. Also, asteroids are large, and most of the larger ones can be up to 50% empty space by mass.
2) The hole through which they inserted the comet is a weak point, and would result in the bubble bursting as soon as the expansion started. Additionally, the sudden cooling would crack up the hull, and introduce numerous failures amongst the hull. The chances of getting a balloon like expansion are very, very slim.
3) You're not likely to find an asteroid containing 7 trillion tons of Iron in a reasonable timeframe. That's a lot of Iron, you know. Iron is a rarity in asteroids, after all. The majority of the asteroids are simply bunch of debris, rock and ice, with up to 50% empty space inside. I don't think there are any that apply. ((Unless I miscalculated, which is a possibility, you require a 10*10*10km cube of iron to make that work.))

Additionally, ramming in space is never a good idea. Even a small object has tons of kinetic energy, and the shell might protect you from a while, but a properly steered and small enough object will penetrate.

*If the series is the one I think it is, I doubt you should trust the science. It has things that might just work, but with any technical troubles waved away in spite of a message.

Here's a list of asteroids

[Zako]

Of course I'm not going to trust the science, it's fiction! Still, you need to keep in mind that we are what seems to be the remains of a planet, so finding a massive hunk of rock shouldn't be too hard, and finding one with lots of iron stands a better chance since it used to be a planet. I can't remember how they solved the weak point of the entry hole and I have no idea how we're going to be able to heat up and melt a rock that big, but still, it's interesting stuff and it's a reminder that we don't have to build small with a planet's worth of materials floating right by us.

Think of it as a long term project. Something to aspire to!

[RadtheCad]

Don't we have subspace energy transfer and magical thrusters that don't require fuel?  I don't think scientific accuracy is really our biggest concern. 

Make long-term plan involving hollowing out an asteroid and turning it into a battle station/ship.

As this is a long-term plan, just +1 if you want to eventually turn an asteroid in to a base (specifics to be seen) and -1 if you think it's a stupid idea/have thought of something cooler.

I'm pretty sure our thrusters run on rule of cool, and making something as awesome as an asteroid base would allow FTL travel.