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If you have had enough of Earth, you may not need to wait much longer for a trip off the planet. A recent study published by Finnish astrophysicist Pekka Janhunen says it would be possible to set up a floating mega-city on Ceres, a dwarf planet that floats in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Not only has Janhunen laid out his plan for how to build a mega-city, he suggests that it could start to take shape within the next decade and a half.
According to the journal entry (via New York Post), Ceres was chosen because of its similar gravitational qualities, even though it resides about 325 miles from Earth. Simply put, NASA sent the space probe Dawn there in 2007, and it didn’t happen until 2015.
“We choose Ceres as the source body because C-type asteroids are more likely to have enough nitrogen,” Janhunen wrote. “Nitrogen is a critical element because it is necessary for settlement atmospheres. We use disk geometry for the mega-satellite because its symmetry eliminates tidal torque so reaction wheels are not needed to maintain attitude. The habitats are lit by natural sunlight. Sunlight is gathered onto the disc by two plane mirrors tilted at an angle of 45 degrees and concentrated to the desired intensity by parabolic mirrors. “
His plan for the megalopolis includes a habitat built of thousands of cylindrical structures, each housing more than 50,000 people. These structures would then rotate slowly and create an artificial gravity on the surface of the satellite.
Using ‘space elevators’ built into the habitat, people who live in the mega-city could then mine the metals found in Ceres to build other structures.
“The utility value of the mega-satellite becomes evident if we compare it to traditional surface colonies. It would be technically possible to colonize the surface of Ceres by centrifugation habitats,” added the astrophysicist. “However, then the magnetic bearings would have to support the weight of the habitat. The weight is 34 times less than on Earth but many orders of magnitude more than under the microgravity conditions of the mega-satellite.”
Cover photo by Xue Bing / VCG via Getty Images
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