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In the near future, humanity has a good chance of expanding its presence beyond Earth. This includes establishing infrastructure in low Earth orbit (LEO), on the surface (and orbit) of the Moon, and on Mars. This presents many challenges, as living in space and on other celestial bodies comes with all kinds of potential risks and health hazards – not the least of which are radiation and long-term exposure to low temperature. gravity.
These problems require innovative solutions; and over the years, several have been proposed! A good example is Dr Pekka Janhunen’s concept for a mega-satellite orbiting Ceres, the largest asteroid in the main belt. This colony would provide artificial gravity to its residents while local resources would allow a closed-loop ecosystem to develop within – effectively bringing “terraforming” to a space colony.
Dr Janhunen – a theoretical physicist based in Helsinki, Finland – is no stranger to advanced concepts. In addition to being a Research Director at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, he is a Visiting Professor at Tatu University and Senior Technical Advisor at Aurora Propulsion Technologies – where he oversees the business development of Electric Solar Wind Sail (E -sail) concept he proposed in 2006.
The article that describes his concept recently appeared online and was submitted for publication to the scientific journal. Elsevier. It’s a concept Dr Janhunen described to Universe Today as: “[T]erraforming from the user’s point of view: create an artificial environment, near Ceres and Ceres materials, which can reach the same population and larger than that of Earth today.
Rotating space habitats are an age-old proposition and a suggested alternative to (or in conjunction with) habitats on other celestial bodies. The first recorded example was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s 1903 book, Beyond planet earth, where he described a reel station in space that would spin to provide artificial gravity.
Was this followed by Herman Poto’s expanded proposal? Nik in The problem of space travel (1929), the Von Braun Wheel (1952) and Gerard K. O’Neill’s groundbreaking proposal in The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space (1976) which called for a rotating cylinder in space – aka. the O’Neill cylinder. However, all of these concepts concerned stations in low Earth orbit (LEO) or at a point of Lagrange Earth-Sun.
As Dr Janhunen told Universe Today via email, a constellation of mega-satellites orbiting Ceres could take advantage of local resources to create Earth-like conditions:
“They provide an Earth-like gravity of 1g, which is essential for human health, especially for children to grow into healthy adults with fully developed muscles and bones. Ceres has nitrogen to create habitat atmospheres, and it is large enough to provide almost limitless resources. At the same time, it is also small enough that its gravity is rather low that the material for lifting the surface is cheap.
According to his study, the mega-satellite settlement would consist of rotating habitats attached to a disc-shaped frame by passive magnetic bearings. This would allow gravity to be simulated in habitats, facilitate intra-facility movement and ensure that population density remains low.
Dr Janhunen estimates it could be kept at 500 people per km2 (190 people per mi2), while cities like Manhattan and Mumbai have densities of around 27,500 and 32,303 inhabitants per km2 (i.e. 71,340 and 83,660 people per km2), respectively. The colony would initially be furnished with soil 1.5 m (~ 5 ft) deep, which could be upgraded to 4 m (~ 13 ft).
This would allow green spaces with gardens and trees that would produce oxygen for the colony and scrub the atmosphere of CO2 (as well as additional radiation protection). Likewise, Ceres is known to have abundant reserves of ammonia salts on its surface (especially around light spots in Occator Crater) which could be imported into the colony and converted into nitrogen for use as a buffer gas.
Planar and parabolic mirrors located around the frame would direct concentrated sunlight to the habitats, providing illumination and allowing photosynthesis. While creating such a colony presents many technical challenges and would require a massive commitment of resources, it would actually be easier in many ways than colonizing the Moon or Mars.
Besides, it would also be much easier than terraforming the Moon or Mars. As Dr Janhunen explains:
“In some aspects easier (no need for planetary landing, no dust storms, no long night). Either way, the biggest challenge is probably getting the industry started in a remote location – it takes robotics and AI, but they’re starting to exist now, basically. “
But perhaps the most exciting aspect of this proposal is the fact that it allows a space elevator! On Earth, such a structure remains impractical (and extremely expensive) because the Earth’s gravity (9.8 m / s2, or 1 g) imposes serious restrictions on space exploration. In short, a rocket must reach an escape speed of 11.186 km / s (40,270 km / h; 25,020 mph) to free itself from Earth’s gravity.
On Ceres, however, gravity is a fraction of what it is here on Earth – 0.28 m / s2 (less than 3%), which translates to an exhaust speed of just 510 meters per second (1.8 km / h; 1.14 mph). Combined with its fast turnaround, a space elevator is quite feasible and would be energetically cheap (compared to transporting them from other locations).
Of course, there is also the advantage that such a colony would have for the exploration (and colonization) of the outer solar system. With a large population and infrastructure around Ceres, ships to Jupiter, Saturn and beyond would have a stopover point to refuel and stock up. Potential destinations of the colonies could include the moons of Galilee, the moons of Saturn, or orbiting habitats in both systems.
This would give humanity access to the abundant resources of these systems and usher in an era of post-scarcity. In the meantime, this Ceres mega-constellation would provide an Earth-like environment for a significant population of the main asteroid belt, which could be upgraded to make room for many more people. As Dr Janhunen noted:
“The Ceres mega-satellite could reach hundreds of billions of people, probably, so that would be enough for at least a few centuries. Discussing the future beyond that is difficult, but generally spreading to multiple places is what life usually does. On the other hand, people like to live in an interconnected world whose parts can [all] accessible when traveling. “
At its core, Dr. Janhunen’s concept is a marriage of spatial construction and in situ resource use (ISRU) with some key terraforming elements involved in colonizing otherwise uninhabitable parts of the solar system. When approaching the future of humanity in space, the challenges and the rewards are clear.
In order to get the rewards, we need to be creative and be prepared to commit!
Further reading: arXiv
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