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Orbital Space Settlements

Al GlobusMarch 2000

A scientist discovers what existsAn engineer creates what never was von Karmon

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http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/photos/sts71/mir-imax/hmg0018.jpg

http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/

People Live Everywhere

• Every continent, including Antarctica

• Hottest, driest deserts• Coldest, iciest regions• Wettest rain forests• On water• For short periods, in orbit• 6,000,000,000 people on Earth

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Life is Everywhere

• On nearly all land areas• In nearly all waters• In the rocks under the Earth• In near-boiling water• In ice• On desert rocks• On a spacecraft on the Moon

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Next Target: Orbit

• Your lifetime: thousands of people living in orbit

• A few centuries: most of humanity in orbit.

• Next millenium: generation ships to the stars

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Orbital Space Settlement• Who? Ordinary people. • What? Artificial ecosystems inside

gigantic rotating, pressurized spacecraft.

• Where? In orbit; near Earth at first. • How? With great difficulty.• Why? To grow. • When? Decades. • How much will it cost? If you have to

ask, you can't afford it.

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Who

• Today: highly trained astronauts.– 200-400 million pesos tourist trip to Mir

• Tomorrow: everyone who wants to go.– 100 - 10,000,000 people per colony– Ultimately, thousands or even millions of

colonies

• Sounds unrealistic?– A hundred years ago nobody had ever

flown in an airplane.– Today ~ 500 million person/flights per

year.

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What

• A space settlement is a home in orbit, not just a place to work.

• Live on the inside of air-tight, kilometer scale, rotating spacecraft.

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Where

• In orbit, not on a planet or moon. • Moon (1/6g) and Mars (3/8g) gravity

too low. – Children will not have the bones and

muscles needed to visit Earth.– Orbital colonies rotate for 1g.

• Continuous solar energy.• Large-scale construction easier.• Much closer: hours not days or

months.

http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/

How• Materials

– Moon• Oxygen, silicon, metals, some hydrogen

for water.

– Near-Earth Asteroids• Wide variety of materials including water,

carbon, metals, and silicon.

– Radiation protection

• Life support: Biosphere II scientific failure, engineering success!

• Transportation critical and difficult.

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http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/

Why

• Growth = survival.• Largest asteroid converted to

space settlements can produce living area ~500 times the surface area of the Earth. – 3D object to 2D shells– Uncrowded homes for trillions of

people. – New land.

• Nice place to live.

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Real Estate Features

• Great views• Low/0-g recreation

– Human powered flight– Cylindrical swimming pools– Dance, gymnastics– Sports: football (soccer)

• Environmental independence• Custom living

– Weather art

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When

• A few decades should be sufficient to build the first one.

• No serious effort now.• Technology requirements:

– Safer, cheaper launch– Extraterrestrial materials– Large scale orbital construction– Closed ecological life support systems– And much more

http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/

How much will it cost?

• A lot. – How much did Mexico City cost?

• Orbital space settlements will be far more expensive:– all materials imported– transportation difficult– build all life support – hostile environment– new techniques must be developed

http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/

Key Problem: Launch

Pesos/kg Pesos/me(73 kg)

Failure rate

Shuttle 200,000 14,600,000 0.5-1%

Commerciallauncher

varies varies 10-14%

airline 50 3,600 1/2,000,000

2010 NASA goal 20,000 1,460,000 1/10,000

2020 NASA goal 2,000 146,000 1/10,000

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2020 Tourism

• Hotel• Doctors• Maids• Cooks• Recreational directors• Reservation clerks• etc.• These may be the first colonists.

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Low/0-g Handicapped/Elderly

Colony• No wheelchairs needed.• No bed sores.• Easy to move body even when weak.• Never fall and break hip.• Grandchildren will love to visit.• First facilities for the extremely rich.• Need good medical facilities.• Probably can’t return to Earth.

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Conclusion

The colonization of the solar system is the next great adventure for humanity. There is nothing but rock and radiation in space, no living things, no people. The solar system is waiting to be brought to life by humanity's touch.