LaGrange Points

[Gadrin]

just how "big" might a LaGrange Point be ? (obviously it would depending on the bodies forming the point)

I was thinking of a company building a secret base, having a Terraforming Unit move some planetoids into the LaGrange point then building an artificial nebula (dust and debris) around it to hide it from optics and possibly penetrating radars. The base could use meson comms to communicate outside.

is that feasible ?

 

[veltyen]

just how "big" might a LaGrange Point be ? (obviously it would depending on the bodies forming the point)

I was thinking of a company building a secret base, having a Terraforming Unit move some planetoids into the LaGrange point then building an artificial nebula (dust and debris) around it to hide it from optics and possibly penetrating radars. The base could use meson comms to communicate outside.

is that feasible ?

Well, the clouds that seem to inhabit the L4 and L5 between the earth and moon are about the same size as earth, so certainly it would be possible. The energy required to constantly drag more material into what is basically a minefield, and the danger involved (your secret base will need armour, and near suicidal pilots in armoured vessels to resupply it) I would see as mitigating factors.

A buffered planetoid for your base would be optimal, it would just look like more junk collected there.

You would want a system with minimal gravitational interference. Say a Solar primary and single orbiting planet with nothing else in system, just to make the L4 and L5 points less prone to interference, and hence more stable. All the collected objects would be constantly rotating around the point, which would make life somewhat entertaining as they would interfere with each other as well. Enough objects to hide behind and then you would probably not be able to calculate where all the significant objects will be in the near future.

 

[Gadrin]

ah, that big, well it could still serve as something much smaller.

yes, the buffered planetoid was what I was thinking. repulsors could work with resupply ships.

artificial gravity fields outside the planetoids might help keep things "in line" so to speak, but that might be too wishful.

artificial gravity inside the b-planetoids should easily disrupt densitometer scans from other vessels. I think it's alright to have them image the outside of rocks. finding a group of planetoids stuck there seems fairly natural.

the idea would be to leave the "backdoor" open, that is the side facing out to space with mainly just fine dust -- or nothing whichever makes the most sense safety-wise.