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TheVilest 1st Jan 2017

AEROGELS D*MN IT
Langtons_Human 1st Jan 2017

in the subject of space-made pykrete, if construction of such a station is possible they would have needed to melt down the icy object to near liquid, mix it with carbon obtained from asteriods (or any sort of insulating material available en masse) as sawdust substitute, burrow inside the block and manage to install insulation before it freezes solid
TheVilest 1st Jan 2017

*aerogels are better insulators, not better conductors. My mistake.
TheVilest 1st Jan 2017

@Technomancer If you want to defend against lazers than you can do no better than aerogels. They are way more effective at absorbing heat, and they are WAY more light than ice.
Technomancer 1st Jan 2017

It works surprisingly well against lasers and other heat-based weapons. It does jack against anything that generates pressure, but that's to be expected. But when it boils under fire, the steam makes a pretty effective anti-laser screen. If you remove the negtive pump and add some sort of attractor to the hull, it even draws in and re-freezes the steam.
TheArchitect 31st Dec 2016

The ice could very well be a type of micrometeor shield. It could protect from minor impacts quite effectively.
Technomancer 31st Dec 2016

Yes indeed. Interestingly, pykrete could possibly work as a construction material in space since water can be harvested from comets and maybe asteroids, and wood could grow in orbit (strength, quality and health of the tree don't matter if you're only using it for sawdust). For a ship or station that wasn't meant to land, it might actually be usable. You'd still need some stronger materials to reinforce it, but it could certainly cut down the amount of metal that you needed to haul around.
Destroyer127 31st Dec 2016

@Technomancer A country faced a shortage of Aircraft Carriers, but a guy called Mr. Pyke designed Pykrete to solve that problem. The prototype carrier faced severe bending, so steel reinforcements (The exact material they were trying to avoid using) to strengthen the Pykrete. Failing that, they dumped it into a lake to melt, abandoning the project.
Technomancer 31st Dec 2016

During WWII there was a proposal to build battleships out of "Pykrete" - composed of 14% sawdust and 86% ice. Had the war continued for longer, it's not unlikely that the Allied navies might actually have put this into practice.
Dan_The_Gamer 31st Dec 2016

Or the ice could represent a shield

The Powder Toy

heavy spaceship by MESSA

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