REPRO is a self-replicating starprobe design, based on the British Interplanetary Society’s “Daedalus” starprobe design, and developed by Robert Freitas c.1980. Massing over 10,700,000 tons because of the propellant needed to deccelerate from 12% lightspeed, the REPRO arrives in a system, scouts out a suitable moon/asteroid and proceeds to build a self-replicating FACTORY which builds up the infrarstructure over 1,000 years to make a new REPRO. No mean feat for a computer system estimated to store 1014 bits and massing 7 tons [!] These days Freitas is at the cutting edge of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. His latest probe designs might mass 1 kilogram.
Starship Component | Daedalus | REPRO | |||
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Component Mass (kg) | Component Mass (kg) | ||||
PROPULSION SYSTEM |
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0th Stage |
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Reaction Chamber(s) |
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Excitation Field Coils |
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Titanium Coil Supports |
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Ignition Assembly |
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Charging Circuit Supports |
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Pellet Injector | |||||
Capacitors |
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Aluminium Superconducting Coils |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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1st Stage |
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Reaction Chamber(s) |
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Excitation Field Coils |
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Titanium Coil Supports |
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Ignition Assembly |
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Charging Circuit Supports |
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Pellet Injector | |||||
Capacitors |
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Aluminium Superconducting Coils |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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2nd Stage |
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Reaction Chamber(s) |
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Excitation Field Coils |
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Titanium Coil Supports |
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Ignition Assembly |
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Charging Circuit Supports |
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Pellet Injector | |||||
Capacitors |
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Aluminium Superconducting Coils |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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THRUST STRUCTURE |
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0th Stage |
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1st Stage |
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2nd Stage |
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SERVICE BAY |
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0th Stage |
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Core |
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Thermal Shielding | |||||
Gold |
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Rhodium |
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Iconel Base |
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Power Supplies | |||||
Buffer Capacitors |
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Nuclear Reactors (V.O.) |
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1st Stage |
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Core |
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Thermal Shielding | |||||
Gold |
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Rhodium |
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Iconel Base |
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Power Supplies | |||||
Buffer Capacitors |
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Nuclear Reactors (V.O.) |
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2nd Stage | |||||
Core |
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Thermal Shielding | |||||
Gold |
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Rhodium |
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Iconel Base |
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Power Supplies | |||||
Buffer Capacitors |
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Nuclear Reactors (V.O.) |
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PROPELLANT SYSTEM | |||||
0th Stage |
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Helium-3 Fuel |
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Deuterium Fuel |
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Insulation | |||||
Fuel Tanks |
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LH2 Tanks |
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Fuel Tanks |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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1st Stage |
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Helium-3 Fuel |
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Deuterium Fuel |
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Insulation | |||||
Fuel Tanks |
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LH2 Tanks |
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Fuel Tanks |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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2nd Stage | |||||
Helium-3 Fuel |
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Deuterium Fuel |
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Insulation | |||||
Fuel Tanks |
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Maneuver Tanks |
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LH2 Tanks |
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Fuel Tanks |
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Uncommitted Mass (V.O.) |
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PAYLOAD BAY |
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Committed Bay Structure |
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Sensing and Communications (V.O.) |
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Subprobes(V.O.) |
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Service Wardens (V.O.) |
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Shield Cloud (V.O.) |
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Dust Bugs (V.O.) |
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Beryllium Payload Shield |
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SEED (F.O.) |
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TOTAL MASS ESTIMATE |
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One response to “Repro vs Daedalus”
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