Physicist proposes massive satellite to orbit of Ceres

Physicist Pekka Janhunen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute has developed a new idea to colonize a place other than Earth – not the moon or Mars. Instead, Janhonen suggests in an article posted on the arXiv preprint server that humans are filling a giant satellite orbiting Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

Much of the Void, scientists have noted the difficulties and dangers of trying to colonize the Moon or Mars – both of which have extremely hostile environments. Many people on Earth promote the idea of ​​building a structure large enough to hold tens of thousands of people somewhere in space. But that creates its own set of problems. Pay for the construction of such a gigantic project, for example, and protect the population with solar radiation. “What about gravity, and where will the structure be located? In his article, Janhonen suggests that Ceres would be an ideal place to place such a structure, making it a satellite. He notes that such an orbit would be close enough to a dwarf planet that a 636-mile space elevator could transport materials from the surface to the satellite for construction and resupply – Ceres has enough nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide to support such actions.

Yanhonen also has plans for a parabolic satellite – he imagines it to be over a mile long and with thousands of interconnected cylindrical structures on its surface to house humans, as well as provide space for others. necessities like agriculture and recreation areas. He also imagines a pair of giant mirrors to harness the energy of the sun on either side of the satellite, giving the entire structure a clam shape. He also plans to start with a population of 50,000. It is also believed that the majority of the satellite could be constructed from material on the surface of Ceres. This indicates that gravity can be simulated simply by flipping a satellite at the appropriate speed.

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