Space. Colonization, also. Called space settlement, or extraterrestrial. Colonization. Is permanent, human habitation. Of the planet Earth. Many. Arguments, have been made for an against space colonization. The. Two most common in favor of colonization. A survival, of human civilization. And the biosphere in the event of a planetary, scale disaster, natural, or man-made and the availability, of additional, resources in space that could enable expansion. Of human society. The. Most common, objections, to colonization, include. Concerns, that the commodification, of, the cosmos, may be likely to enhance, the interests, of the already powerful including. Major economic, and military institutions. And to exacerbate pre-existing. Detrimental. Processes. Such as Wars economic. Inequality, and environmental. Degradation no, space colonies, have been built so far. Currently. The building of a space colony would, present a set of huge technological. And economic challenges. Space. Settlements, would have to provide for nearly all or all the material, needs of hundreds, or thousands, of humans in an environment, out in space that is very hostile, to human life they. Would involve technologies. Such as controlled, ecological. Life-support systems. That have yet to be developed in any meaningful way, they. Would also have to deal with these yet unknown issue of how humans, would behave and thrive in such places long term, because. Of the present, cost of sending anything, from the surface, of the earth into orbit, around. $2,500. Per pound to orbit expected. To further decrease a space colony would, currently be a massively, expensive, project. There. Are yet no plans for building space colonies, by any large-scale, organization. Either government or private, however. Many, proposals. Speculations. And designs, for space settlements, have been made through the years and a considerable, number of space colonization, advocates. And groups are active. Several. Famous scientists. Such as Freeman, Dyson have come out in favor of space settlement, on the technological front. There is ongoing progress. In making access, to based cheaper, reusable. Launch systems, could reach $10, per pound to orbit and in creating automated. Manufacturing and. Construction techniques. Topic. Reasons. Topic. Survival. Of human, civilization. The primary, argument calling, for space colonization, is, the long-term survival of human civilization. By. Developing, alternative. Locations. Of Earth the planet species, including, humans could. Live on in the event of natural, or man-made disasters. On our own planet on two occasions theoretical. Physicists, and cosmologists Stephen. Hawking, has argued for space colonization, as, a means of saving humanity, in. 2001. Hawking. Predicted, that the human race would become extinct, within the next thousand, years unless, colonies, could be established in, space, in. 2006. He stated that humanity, faces two, options, either we colonize, space within, the next 200, years and build residential, units on other planets, or we will face the prospect of long-term extinction. In 2005. Then NASA Administrator. Michael Griffin, identified. Space colonization, as, the ultimate goal of current, spaceflight, programs, saying. The. Goal isn't just scientific, exploration. It's, also about extending. The range of human habitat, out from earth into the solar system, as we go forward in time. In. The long run of single, planet species, will not survive. If. We humans want to survive for hundreds of thousands, of millions of years, we must ultimately populate, other planets. Now.
Today, The technology, is such that this is barely conceivable. We're. In the infancy of it. I'm. Talking, about that one day I don't know when that day is but there will be more human beings who live off the earth than on it we. May well have people living on the moon we. May have people living on the moons of Jupiter, and other planets, we. May have people making habitats, on asteroids, I. Know. That humans will colonize the solar system, and one day go beyond. Louis. J Halle formerly, of the United, States Department of, State wrote in foreign affairs summer, 1980. That the colonization. Of space will, protect humanity in the event of global nuclear warfare. The. Physicist, Paul Davies also, supports, the view that if a planetary, catastrophe threatens. The survival of, the human species, on earth a self-sufficient. Colony, could reverse. Colonize. Earth. And restore human civilization. The, author and journalist, William e Burroughs and the biochemist. Robert Shapiro proposed, a private, project the Alliance to rescue, civilization. With the goal of establishing an. Offer back. Up of human. Civilization. Based on his Copernican, principle J. Richard Gott has estimated that the human race could survive for another 7.8, million years but it is not likely to ever colonize, other planets. However. He expressed, a hope to be proven wrong because. Colonizing. Other worlds, is our best chance to hedge our bets and, improve the survival, prospects, of our species. Topic. Vast, resources. In space. Resources. In space both in materials, and energy are enormous, the. Solar system, alone has according, to different estimates, enough material, and energy to support anywhere, from several thousand, to over a billion times, that of the current, earth-based human, population. Outside. The solar system several, hundred, billion other planets, in the Milky Way alone provide. Opportunities. For both colonization. And resource collection, though travel, to any of them is impossible on, any practical, time scale without interstellar. Travel, by use of generation, ships or revolutionary. New methods, of travel such as faster than light FTL. Asteroid. Mining will also be a key player in space colonization. Water. And materials, to make structures, and shielding, can be easily found in asteroids. Instead. Of resupplying, on earth mining, and fuel stations, need to be established on asteroids, to facilitate, better space, travel. Optical. Mining is the term NASA uses, to describe extracting. Materials, from asteroids. NASA. Believes by using propellant. Derived from asteroids, for exploration to the moon Mars, and Beyond, will save 100, billion dollars, if. Funding, and technology, come sooner than estimated. Asteroid, mining might be possible, within a decade all these planets, and other bodies, offer a virtually, endless supply, of resources, providing, limitless, growth potential. Harnessing. These resources, can lead to much economic development. Topic. Expansion. With fewer negative consequences. Expansion. Of humans and technological. Progress has usually, resulted, in some form of environmental devastation, and. Destruction of, ecosystems and. Their accompanying wildlife. In. The past expansion. Has often come at the expense of displacing, many indigenous, peoples, the resulting, treatment, of these peoples ranging, anywhere from encroachment, to genocide. Because. Space has no known life this need not be a consequence, as some space settlement, advocates, have pointed, out. Topic. Alleviating. Overpopulation. And resource demand. Another. Argument for space colonization, is, to mitigate the negative effects. Of overpopulation. If. The resources, of space were open to use and viable life supporting, habitats, were built earth would no longer define the limitations. Of growth, although. Many of earth's resources are, non-renewable, off-planet. Colonies, could satisfy the majority. Of the planet's resource requirements. With. The availability, of extraterrestrial. Resources, demand, on terrestrial, ones would decline. Topic. Other arguments. Additional. Goals cite the innate human drive to explore, and discover equality. Recognized, at the core of progress, and thriving, civilizations. Nick Bostrom has argued, that from a utilitarian, perspective, space, colonization, should, be a chief goal as it would enable a very large population to, live for a very long period of time possibly. Billions of years which would produce an enormous amount of utility or happiness. He. Claims that it is more important, to reduce existential.
Risks, To increase the probability of eventual, colonization than. To accelerate, technological. Development, so that space colonization, could, happen sooner, in. His paper he assumes that the created, lives will have positive ethical, value despite, the problem, of suffering. In. A 2001. Interview with, Freeman Dyson J, Richard Gott and Sid Goldstein they were asked, for reasons why some humans should live in space, their. Answers, were. Spread. Life and beauty throughout, the universe. Ensure, the survival of, our species. Make. Money through new forms of space, commercialization. Such as solar power satellites, asteroid, mining and space manufacturing. Save. The environment, of Earth by moving people and industry, into space. Topic. Goals. Although. Some items of the infrastructure, requirements, above, can already be easily produced, on earth and would therefore not be very valuable as trade items, oxygen. Water-based. Metal ores silicates. Etc. Other high-value, items are, more abundant more, easily produced, of higher quality or can only be produced in space, these. Would provide over the long term a very high return on the initial investment, in space infrastructure. Some of these high-value trade, goods include, precious, metals gemstones. Power solar, cells ball bearings, semiconductors. And pharmaceuticals. The mining and extraction of, metals from a small asteroid, the size of. 3554. Armen or six one seven eight one nine eight six star both, small near-earth, asteroids, would be 30 times as much metal as humans have mined throughout history a, metal. Asteroid, this size would be worth approximately 20, trillion dollars at 2001. Market, price of space colonization, is, seen as a long-term, goal of some national, space programs. Since. The advent of the 21st. Century. Commercialization. Of space which, saw greater cooperation between, NASA, and the private, sector several, private companies, have announced plans toward, the colonization. Of Mars. Among. Entrepreneurs leading. The call for space colonization. Elon, Musk Dennis, Tito and bas Lansdorp the, main impediments. To commercial, exploitation of, these resources are the very high cost of initial investment, the very long period, required for the expected return, on those investments the, eros project, plans a 50-year development, and the fact that the venture has never been carried, out before the.
High Risk nature, of the investment. Major. Governments, and well-funded, corporations. Have announced, plans for new categories, of activities space. Tourism, and hotels, prototype, space-based, solar power satellites, heavy lift boosters, and asteroid, mining that. Create needs and capabilities for, humans to be present in space. Topic. Method. Building. Colonies, in space would require access, to water food, space, people, construction. Materials, energy, transportation. Communications. Life support simulated. Gravity radiation. Protection and, capital, investment, it. Is likely the colonies, would be located, near the necessary, physical resources. The. Practice, of space architecture, seeks. To transform space, flight from a heroic test, of human endurance to a normality, within, the bounds of comfortable, experience, as is. True of other frontier, opening, endeavours the capital, investment, necessary, for space colonization, would, probably, come from governments, an argument, made by John Hickman and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Topic. Materials. Colonies. On the moon Mars. Or asteroids. Could extract, local, materials. The. Moon is deficient in volatile, such as argon helium and compounds, of carbon hydrogen, and nitrogen, the. LCR OSs, impactor, was targeted, at the Kabir's crater which was chosen as having a high concentration, of, water for the moon a plume. Of material, erupted, in which some water was detected, mission. Chief scientist, anthony, Kolhapuri estimated, that the Kabir's crater contains, material, with 1% water or possibly, more, water. I should also be in other permanently. Shadowed craters near, the lunar poles. Although. Helium, is present, only in low concentrations. On the moon where it is deposited, into regolith, by the solar wind an estimated. Million tons of he 3 exists, overall, it. Also has industrially. Significant. Oxygen, silicon. And metals, such as iron aluminium. And titanium. Launching. Materials, from Earth is expensive, so bulk materials, for colonies, could come from the moon a near-earth, object, neo Fobus. Or de mas the. Benefits, of using such sources include, a lower gravitational, force, no atmospheric, drag on cargo, vessels, and no biosphere, to damage, many. Neos, contain, substantial, amounts, of metals, underneath. A drier outer crust much like oil shale some other Neos are inactive comets, which include billions, of tons of water ice and Claridge in hydrocarbons. As well as some nitrogen, compounds, farther out Jupiter's, Trojan, asteroids are, thought to be rich in water ice and other volatiles, recycling. Of some raw materials would, almost certainly, be necessary. Topic. Energy. Solar. Energy in orbit is abundant, reliable and, is commonly used to power satellites, today, there. Is no night in free space and no clouds or atmosphere, to block sunlight. Light. Intensity, obeys an inverse square law so. The solar energy available. At distance, D from the Sun is e equals, 1367. D 2 with M 2 where D is measured in astronomical, units oh and. 1367. Watts per, square meter is, the energy, available, at the distance of Earth's orbit from the Sun one astronomical, unit in the weightlessness and, vacuum of space high, temperatures, for industrial. Processes, can easily be achieved in, solar ovens, with huge parabolic. Reflectors, made of metallic, foil with very lightweight support, structures. Flat. Mirrors to reflect sunlight around, radiation. Shields, into living areas to avoid line-of-sight. Access, for cosmic, rays or to make the sun's image appear to move across their sky. Or haunted, crops are even lighter and easier to build.
Large. Solar power photovoltaic, cell. Arrays or thermal, power plants, would be needed to meet the electrical. Power needs of the settlers use in. Developed, parts of Earth electrical. Consumption, can average one kilowatt, person, or roughly, 10 megawatt hours per person, per year these power plants could be at a short distance from the main structures, if wise are used to transmit, the power or much farther away with wireless power transmission. A, major. Export, of the initial, space settlement, designs was anticipated. To be large solar power satellites. SPS. That would use wireless, power transmission. Phase-locked. Microwave, beams or lasers, emitting wavelengths, that special, solar cells convert with high efficiency to, send power to locations. On earth or to colonies, on the moon or other locations. In space, for. Locations, on earth this method of getting power is extremely benign. With zero emissions, and far less ground, area required, per watt than for conventional, solar panels. Once. These satellites, are primarily, built from lunar or asteroid, derived. Cereals the price of SPS electricity. Could be lower than energy from fossil fuel or nuclear, energy replacing. These would have significant. Benefits such as the elimination of greenhouse, gases, and nuclear, waste from electricity, generation. Transmitting. Solar energy, wirelessly from, the earth to the moon and back is also an idea proposed, for the benefit, of space colonization, and, energy resources. Physicist. Dr. David Cresswell who worked for NASA during, the Apollo missions came, up with the idea of using power beams to transfer, energy from space, these. Beams microwaves. With a wavelength of about 12, centimeters will, be almost untouched, as they travel, through the atmosphere. They. Can also be hame that more industrial, areas to keep away from humans or animal activities. This. Will allow for safer, and more reliable methods, of transferring, solar energy. In. 2008. Scientists. Were able to send a 20 watt microwave signal. From a mountain in Maui to the Island of Hawaii, since. Then Jay AXA, and Mitsubishi, has teamed up on a 21, billion dollars, project, in order to place satellites, in orbit which could generate up to one gigawatt of energy, these. Are the next advancements. Being done today in order to make energy be transmitted, wirelessly for, space-based, solar energy. However. The value of SPS power delivered, wirelessly, to other locations, in space will typically be far higher than to earth, otherwise. The means of generating the power would need to be included with these projects, and pay the heavy penalty, of earth launch costs. Therefore. Other than proposed, demonstration. Projects. For power delivered, to earth the first priority, for SPS. Electricity. Is likely to be locations. In space such, as communication. Satellites, fuel, depots, or orbital. Tugboat. Boosters. Transferring. Cargo, and passengers, between low-earth, orbit, Leo and other orbits, such as geosynchronous, orbit, geo lunar, orbit or highly eccentric Earth orbit, heh. The. System, will also rely, on satellites. And receiving, stations, on earth to convert the energy into, electricity. Because. Of this energy, can be transmitted, easily from day side to night side meaning power is reliable, 24/7.
Nuclear, Power is sometimes, proposed, for colonies located, on the moon or on Mars as, the supply of solar energy is too discontinuous. In these locations, the moon has nights of - Earth weeks in duration. Mars. Has nights relatively. High gravity and an atmosphere featuring. Large dust storms, to cover and degrade solar panels. Also. Mars, greater distance, from the Sun 1.5. Astronomical. Units Oh translates. Into a. 150. - equals. 2.25. Only, 1/2, to 2/3, the solar energy, of Earth orbit, another. Method would be transmitting. Energy wirelessly to, the lunar or Martian colonies. From solar power satellites. SPSS. As described, above the difficulties, of generating. Power in these locations, make, the relative, advantages, of SPS, is much greater there than for Powell have beamed to locations, on earth in. Order to also be able to fulfill the requirements, of a moon base and energy, to supply life support maintenance. Communications. And research, a combination. Of both nuclear, and solar energy will, be used in the first colonies, for both solar thermal and nuclear power generation, in airless environments. Such as the moon in space and to a lesser extent the, very thin Martian atmosphere one, of the main difficulties, is dispersing, the inevitable, heat generated. This. Requires, fairly, large radiator, areas. Equals. Topic. Life support. Equals. In. Space, settlements. A life-support, system must recycle, or import, all the nutrients, without crashing. The. Closest, terrestrial, analog to space life-support. Is possibly, that of a nuclear, submarine. Nuclear. Submarines, use mechanical, life-support, systems, to support humans, for months without surfacing. And this same basic technology, could presumably, be employed for space use, however. Nuclear. Submarines, run, open-loop. Extracting. Oxygen from seawater and typically, dumping, carbon dioxide, overboard. Although they recycle, existing, oxygen. Recycling. Of the carbon, dioxide has, been approached in the literature, using, the Sabatier process.
Or The Bosch reaction. Although. A fully mechanistic. Life support, system, is conceivable, a closed, ecological system. Is generally proposed, for life-support the. Biosphere 2 project, in Arizona, has shown that a complex, small, enclosed, manmade, biosphere, can support eight people for at least a year although, there were many problems a, year. Or so into the two-year, mission oxygen, had to be replenished, which strongly suggests that they achieved atmospheric. Closure. The. Relationship. Between organisms. Their habitat, and the non earth environment. Can be. Organisms. And their habitat fully isolated, from the environment. Examples, include artificial. Biosphere. Biosphere, 2 life support system. Changing. The environment, to become a life friendly, habitat, a process, called terraforming. Changing. Organisms, to become more compatible, with the environment see, genetic, engineering, transhumanism. Cyborg. A combination. Of the above technologies. Is also possible. Topic. Radiation. Protection. Cosmic. Rays and solar flares create, a lethal, radiation environment. In space, in. Earth orbit the Van Allen belts make living above the Earth's atmosphere difficult. To. Protect life settlements. Must be surrounded, by sufficient, mass to absorb most incoming, radiation. Unless, magnetic, or plasma, radiation, shields, were developed, passive, mass shielding, a four metric, tonnes per square meter of surface area, will reduce radiation, dosage, to several MSV or less annually, well below the rate of some populated, high natural, background areas, on earth this. Can be leftover material, slag from processing, lunar, soil and asteroids, into oxygen metals, and other useful materials. However. It represents. A significant, obstacle to, maneuvering, vessels, with such massive bulk mobile, spacecraft. Being particularly, likely, to use less massive active, shielding. Inertia. Would necessitate powerful. Thrusters, to start or stop rotation. Or electric, motors to spend two massive portions, of a vessel in opposite, sensors. Shielding. Material, can be stationary, around a rotating interior. Topic. Self-replication. Space. Manufacturing. Could enable self-replication. Some. Think it's the ultimate goal because it allows an exponential. Increase in colonies, while eliminating costs. To independence, on earth it. Could be argued that the establishment. Of such a colony, would be Earth's first act of self replication. Intermediate. Goals include, colonies, that expect only information from, earth science, engineering, entertainment. And colonies, that just require periodic, supply, of lightweight, objects, such as integrated, circuits medicines. Genetic, material, and tools. Topic. Psychological. Adjustment. The. Monotony, and loneliness. That comes from a prolonged space mission, can leave astronauts, susceptible. To cabin, fever or having, a psychotic, break. Moreover. Lack of sleep fatigue and work overload can affect an astronauts, ability to perform well in an environment, such as space where every action is critical. Topic. Population. Size. In, 2002. The anthropologist. John H more estimated. That a population. Of 150. To 180. Would permit a stable, society, to exist for sixty to eighty generations. Equivalent. To 2,000 years a, much. Smaller initial population, of as little as two women should be viable as long as human embryos, are available, from Earth use. Of a sperm bank from, Earth also allows, a smaller, starting, base with negligible, inbreeding. Researchers. In conservation, biology, have tended, to adopt thee fifty-five. Hundreds rule. Of thumb initially, advanced, by Franklin, and Seoul this, rule says a short-term effective, population size, knee of fifty is needed to prevent an unacceptable. Rate of inbreeding whereas, a long-term knee of 500, is required, to maintain overall. Genetic variability. The. Knee. Topic. 50, prescription, corresponds. To an in breeding rate of 1% per generation. Approximately. Half the maximum, rate tolerated. By domestic, animal, breeders. The. Knee. 500. Value attempts, to balance the rate of gain in genetic, variation. Due to mutation, with the rate of loss due to genetic, drift. Assuming. A journey of six thousand, three hundred years the astrophysicist. Frederick Marin and the particle, physicist, Camille Bella fee calculated. That the minimum viable population.
For A generation, ship, to reach Proxima Centauri, would, be 98 settlers, at the beginning of the mission then the crew will breed until reaching a stable, population of, several hundred settlers, within the ship. Topic. Money, in currency. Experts. Have debated on the possible, usage of money and currencies, in societies. That will be established, in space, the. Quasi, Universal, intergalactic. Denomination. Or quid is a physical, currency made, from a space qualified polymer. PTFE. For interplanetary travelers. Quid. Was designed for the foreign exchange company. Travelex, by scientists. From Britain's National, Space Center, and the University, of Leicester. Some. Researchers, have proposed, the usage of crypto currencies, for money transactions. In space colonies. Since. Using physical, money in space will be a costly, process experts. Have explored the usage of blockchains to exchange value, among inhabitants. In a space colony. Topic. Location. Location. Is a frequent, point of contention between space, colonization, advocates. The, location. Of colonization. Can be on a physical, body planet, dwarf planet, natural, satellite, or asteroid, or orbiting, one for, colonies, not on a body see also space, habitat. Topic. Near-earth. Space. Topic. The moon. Due, to its proximity and, familiarity, Earth's, moon is discussed, as a target, for colonization. It. Has the benefits, of proximity to earth and lower escape, velocity, allowing, for easier exchange, of goods and services a. Drawback. Of the moon is its low abundance, of volatiles, necessary. For life such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and, carbon. Water. Ice deposits, that exist in some polar craters could, serve as a source for these elements, an. Alternative. Solution is, to bring hydrogen, from near-earth asteroids, and combine it with oxygen extracted. From lunar rock, the. Moon's low surface gravity, is also a concern, as it is unknown whether one-sixth, of a gram is enough to maintain human. Health for long periods, the moon's lack of atmosphere, provides, no protection from space radiation or, meteoroids. The. Early moon colonies, may shelter, in ancient lunar, lava tubes, to gain protection. The. Two week day/night, cycle, makes use of solar power more difficult. Topic. Lagrange. Points. Another. Near-earth possibility. Are the five earth-moon, Lagrange points, although. They would generally also take a few days to reach with current technology. Many of these points, would have near continuous, solar power because, their distance, from Earth would result in only brief and infrequent, eclipses, of light from the Sun, however. The fact that the Earth Moon Lagrange, points, l4 and l5 tend. To collect dust and debris, whereas l1 l3 require, active, station-keeping measures. To maintain a stable position make, them somewhat, less suitable places for habitation, than, was originally, believed. Additionally. The orbit of l2 l5, takes, them out of the protection, of the Earth's magnetosphere, for, approximately.
Two-thirds Of the time exposing. Them to the health threat from cosmic, rays. The. Five Earth Sun Lagrange points would totally eliminate, eclipses, but only l1, and l2 would, be reachable, in a few days time, the. Other three Earth Sun points would require months to reach. Topic. Other micro. G orbits. C. Space habitat. Topic. The inner planets. Topic. Mercury. Colonizing. Mercury, would involve similar, challenges, as the moon as there are few volatile, elements, no atmosphere, and the surface gravity is lower than Earth's. However. The planet also receives, almost seven, times the solar flux, as the Earth Moon system, geologist, Steven Gillett suggested, in 1996. That this could make mercury an ideal place to build and launch solar sail spacecraft which, could launch has folded up chunks. By. Mass driver from Mercury's surface once. In space the solar sails, would deploy since. Mercury's, solar constant, is 6.5 times, higher than Earth's energy for, the mass driver should be easy to come by and solar sails, near mercury would have six point five times the thrust they do near Earth this. Could make mercury an ideal place to acquire, materials. Useful, in building hardware to send to and terraform. Venus. Vast. Solar collectors, could also be built on or near mercury to produce power for large scale engineering activities. Such as laser pushed, light sails to nearby star, systems. Topic. Venus. Topic. Mars. Topic. Asteroid. Belt. Colonization. Of asteroids, would require space, habitats, the, asteroid, belt has significant. Overall material, available, the largest, object, being series, although it is thinly distributed. As it covers a vast region of space. Unmanned. Supply craft, should be practical, with little technological. Advance even crossing, five hundred million kilometers, of space, the. Colonists, would have a strong, interest in assuring their, asteroid, did not hit earth or any other body of significant. Mass but would have extreme, difficulty, in moving an asteroid, of any size, the. Orbits, of the earth and most asteroids, are very distant, from each other in terms of Delta V and the asteroid, or bodies have enormous momentum. Rockets. Or mass drivers, can perhaps be installed, on asteroids, to direct their, path into a safe course. Topic. Moons, of outer planets. Topic. Jovian. Moons Europa. Callisto. And Ganymede. The. Artemis project, designed a plan to colonize, Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. Scientists. Were to inhabit igloos, and drill down into the Europan, ice crust exploring.
Any Subsurface. Ocean, this. Plan discusses, possible, use of air, pockets, for. Human habitation. Europa. Is considered, one of the more habitable, bodies in the solar system and so merits investigation. As a possible abode, for life. NASA. Performed, a study called hope revolutionary. Concepts, for human outer planet, exploration regarding. The future exploration. Of the solar system, the. Target, chosen, was Callisto, due to its distance from Jupiter and thus the planet's harmful, radiation. It. Could be possible, to build a surface, base that would produce fuel, for further exploration, of the solar system. Three. Of the Galilean, moons Europa Ganymede. Callisto. Have, an abundance, of volatiles, that may support, colonization. Efforts. Topic. Moons, of Saturn, Titan. Enceladus. And others. Titan. Is suggested, as a target, for colonization, because. It is the only moon in the solar system to have a dense atmosphere and, is rich in carbon, bearing compounds. Titan. Has ice water and large methane, oceans, Robert. Zubrin identified. Titan, as possessing, an abundance, of all the elements necessary to, support life making, Titan, perhaps the most advantageous locale. In the outer solar system for, colonization and, saying, in, certain, ways Titan. Is the most hospitable. Extraterrestrial. World within our solar system, for human colonization. Enceladus. Is a small icy, moon orbiting, close to Saturn notable. For its extremely, bright surface, and the Giza like plumes of ice and water vapour that erupt from its southern polar region, if. Enceladus. Has liquid, water it joins Mars and Jupiter moon, Europa is one of the prime places, in the solar system to look for extraterrestrial. Life and possible, future, settlements. Other. Large, satellites. Rhea ya Buddhist Dai Oni tethers and my masts all have large quantities of volatiles, which can be used to support settlements. Topic. Trans-neptunian. Region. The. Cui per belt is estimated, to have 70,000. Bodies of 100, kilometers or larger. Freeman. Dyson has, suggested, that within a few centuries human. Civilization. Will have relocated, to the cui per belt the Oort cloud is estimated. To have up to a trillion comets. Topic. Outside. The solar system. Looking. Beyond the solar system there, are up to several hundred billion potential, stars, with possible, colonization. Targets, the. Main difficulty, is the vast distances. To other stars roughly, a hundred thousand, times further away than the planets in the solar system, this. Means that some combination. Of very high speed some percentage, of the speed of light or travel, times lasting, centuries, or millennia would, be required, these.
Speeds Are far beyond what current, spacecraft, propulsion systems. Can provide. Many. Scientific. Papers have been published, about interstellar. Travel, given, sufficient travel. Time and engineering, work both unmanned, and generational. Voyages, seem possible though representing. A very considerable, technological, and, economic challenge. Unlikely, to be met for some time particularly, for man probes space, colonization. Technology. Could in principle, allow human, expansion at high but sub relativistic. Speeds, substantially. Less than the speed of light see an, interstellar. Colony, ship would be similar, to a space habitat, with the addition of major propulsion. Capabilities. And independent. Energy generation. Hypothetical. Starship, concepts, proposed, both by scientists. And in hard science, fiction include. A. Generation. Ship would travel much slower than light with consequent. Interstellar, trip times of many decades or centuries. The. Crew would go through generations. Before the journey is complete so that none of the initial, crew would be expected, to survive to arrive at the destination. Assuming, current human life spans a. Sleeper. Ship in which most or all of the crew spend the journey in some form of hibernation, or suspended, animation allowing. Some or all who undertake, the journey to survive to the end an. Embryo. Carrying, interstellar, starship, eyes much, smaller than a generation, ship, or sleeper, ship transporting. Human embryos, or DNA, in a frozen or dormant state to the destination. Obvious. Biological. And psychological problems. In birthing, raising, and educating such. Voyages neglected. Here may not be fundamental. A nuclear. Fusion or fish and powered ship eg, ion drive of some kind, each eaving velocities, of up to perhaps 10% see permitting, one-way, trips to nearby stars with, durations, comparable, to a human, lifetime a. Project. Orion ship, a nuclear-powered. Concept, proposed, by Freeman Dyson which, would use nuclear explosions. To propel a starship, a special. Case of the preceding, nuclear, rocket concepts, with similar, potential velocity capability. But possibly, easier, technology. Laser. Propulsion concepts. Using some form of beaming of power from the solar system, might allow a light sail or other ship to reach high speeds comparable. To those theoretically. Attainable, by the fusion powered, electric, rocket above, these. Methods, would need some means such, as supplementary. Nuclear, propulsion to, stop at the destination but, a hybrid, light sail for acceleration, fusion, electric for deceleration, system. Might be possible, the above concepts, all appear limited, to high but still sub relativistic. Speeds due to fundamental, energy and reaction, mass considerations. And all would entail trip times which might be enabled, by space colonization. Technology. Permitting, self-contained. Habit acts with lifetimes, of decades to centuries. Yet. Human interstellar, expansion, at average speeds of even 0.1%. Of, sea would permit settlement, of the entire galaxy in less than 1/2, of a galactic rotation period. Of approximately, 250. Million years which, is comparable, to the timescale of other galactic processes. Thus. Even if interstellar travel, at near relativistic. Speeds is never feasible, which cannot be clearly determined, at this time the development, of space colonization, could, allow human expansion, beyond the solar system without, requiring, technological. Advances, that cannot yet be reasonably, foreseen, this. Could greatly improve the chances, for the survival, of intelligent. Life over, cosmic, timescales, given, the many natural and human related hazards that have been widely noted. If. Humanity, does gain access to a large amount of energy on the order of the mass energy of entire planets, it may eventually become, feasible. Construct, Alcubierre. Drives, these. Are one of the few methods of superluminal. Travel, which may be possible, under current physics. However. It is probable, that such a device, could never exist due to the fundamental, challenges, posed, for. More on this see difficulties, of making, and using an alkyl beer drive. Topic. Intergalactic. Travel. Looking. Beyond the Milky Way there are at least two trillion other galaxies, in the observable, universe. The. Distances, between galaxies. Are on the order of a million times farther than those between the stars, because.
Of The speed of light limit, on how fast any material, objects, can travel in space, intergalactic. Travel, would either have to involve voyages, lasting, millions of years or a possible, faster, than light propulsion, method based on speculative, physics, such as the Alcubierre drive. There. Are however no, scientific. Reasons, for stating that intergalactic. Travel is impossible, in principle. Topic. Economics. Space. Colonization, can, roughly be said to be possible, when the necessary, methods of space colonization, become. Cheap enough such as space access, by cheaper, launch systems, to meet the cumulative, funds, that have been gathered for the purpose in addition, to estimated, profits, from commercial, use of space. Although. There are no immediate prospects, for the large amounts, of money required, for space colonization, to be available, given traditional, launch costs, there is some prospect of a radical, reduction to launch costs, in the 2010s, which would consequently, lessen, the cost of any efforts, in the direction. With. A published, price of fifty six point five million dollars, per launch of up to thirteen thousand, one hundred and fifty kilograms twenty, eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety pounds, payload, to low Earth orbit SpaceX. Falcon 9 rocket Tsar already though cheapest. In the industry. Advancements. Currently, being developed as part of the SpaceX, reusable, Launch System development, program, to enable reusable. Falcon nines could. Drop the price by an order of magnitude sparking. More space-based, enterprise. Which in turn would drop the cost of access to space still, further through economies of scale. If. SpaceX. Is successful, in developing the reusable, technology it, would be expected, to have, a major impact on the cost of access to space and. Change. The increasingly, competitive market. In space launch services, the President's, Commission on implementation, of United, States space, exploration. Policy suggested. That an inducement price, should be established. Perhaps by government, for the achievement, of space colonization, for, example, by offering, the prize to the first organization. To place humans, on the moon and sustain, them for a fixed period before they return to Earth. Topic. Terrestrial. Analogues, to space colonies. The. Most famous attempt, to build an analog to a self-sufficient. Colony, is biosphere, 2 which attempted, to duplicate, Earth's biosphere. BIOS. 3 is another closed ecosystem, completed. In 1972. In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, many, space agencies, build test beds for advanced, life support systems. But these are designed for long-duration, human, spaceflight. Not permanent, colonization. Remote. Research, stations, in inhospitable climates. Such as the amundsen-scott, South Pole. Station or, Devon Island Mars Arctic, research station, can also provide, some practice for offworld, outpost, construction. And operation. The. Mars desert Research Station, has. A habitat, for similar reasons but the surrounding climate, is not strictly inhospitable. Topic. History. The. First known work, on space colonization, was, the brick moon a work of fiction published, in 1869. By Edward Everett Hale about, an inhabited, artificial, satellite, the Russian schoolmaster. And physicist, Konstantin, Tsiolkovsky foresaw. Elements, of the space community in his book beyond planet Earth written, about 1900. Tsiolkovsky. Had his space travelers, building, greenhouses, and raising crops in space. Tsiolkovsky. Believed that going into space would help perfect, human beings leading, to immortality, and peace others, have also written about space colonies, as last words in 1897. And bernal Oberth von period, and nor dung in the 1920s. Wernher. Von Braun, contributed. His ideas, in a 1952, Collier's article, in. The 1950s. And 1960s, Dandridge. M coalesced. His ideas. Another. Seminal, book on the subject was the book the high frontier, human, colonies, in space by Gerard K O'Neill in, 1977. Which was followed the same year by colonies, in space by ta Heppenheim, ER M. Dyson. Wrote home on the moon living on a space frontier in 2003. Peter Eckert wrote lunar base handbook, in 2006. And then Harrison, Schmidt's returned, to the moon written in 2007. As of 2013, Bigelow. Aerospace is. The only private commercial, spaceflight company. That has launched, two experimental, space, station modules Genesis. By 2006. And Genesis, 2 2007. Into, Earth orbit and has indicated, that their first production model, of the space habitat, the BA 330.
Could, Be launched by 2017. Topic. Planetary. Protection. Robotic. Spacecraft to, Mars are required, to be sterilized, to have at most, 300,000. Spores on the exterior, of the craft and more. Thoroughly sterilized, if they contact, special. Regions. Containing. Water otherwise, there is a risk of contaminating, not only the life detection, experiments, but possibly, the planet itself. It. Is impossible, to sterilize, human, missions to this level as humans, are host to typically a hundred, trillion, microorganisms. Of thousands, of species of the human microbiome, er and these cannot be removed while preserving, the life of the human. Containment. Seems the only option, but it is a major challenge in the event of a hard landing ie crash. There. Have been several planetary, workshops, on this issue but with no final, guidelines, for a way forward yet, human. Explorers would, also be vulnerable to back contamination. To earth if they become carriers of microorganisms. Topic. Objections. A corollary. To the Fermi paradox. Nobody. Else is doing it is. The argument, that because no evidence, of alien colonization. Technology. Exists, it is statistically. Unlikely to, even be possible to use that same level of technology ourselves. Colonizing. Space would require massive amounts of financial physical, and human, capital devoted. To research development. Production and, deployment. Earth's. Natural resources do. Not increase, to a noteworthy extent, which is in keeping with thee only. One earth, position. Of environmentalists. Thus, considerable. Efforts in colonizing. Places, outside earth would appear as a hazardous, waste of the Earth's limited, resources, for a name without a clear end. The. Fundamental. Problem of public things needed, for survival, such as space programs, is the free-rider problem. Convincing. The public to fund such programs, would require additional self-interest. Arguments, if the objective of space colonization, is, to provide a backup. In. Case everyone. On earth is killed then why should someone on earth pay, for something that is only useful, after they are dead this. Assumes that space colonization, is, not widely acknowledged, as a sufficiently, valuable, social goal seen, as a relief to the problem of overpopulation even. As early as 1758. And listed, as one of Stephen Hawking's reasons, for pursuing space, exploration.
It Has become apparent that space colonization, in, response, to overpopulation. Is unwarranted. Indeed. The birth rates of many developed, countries specifically. Spacefaring. Ones are at or below replacement. Rates thus negating the, need to use colonization. As a means of population control other, objections. Include concerns, that the forthcoming, colonization. And commodification, of, the cosmos, may be likely to enhance the interests, of the already powerful including. Major economic and, military institutions. Eg the large financial, institutions. The major aerospace companies. And the military, industrial complex, to lead to new Wars and to exacerbate pre-existing. Exploitation. Of workers and resources, economic inequality. Poverty, social division, and marginalize, a environmental. Degradation and, other detrimental. Processes, or institutions, additional. Concerns, include, creating, a culture, in which humans, are no longer seen as human, but rather as material, assets, the. Issues of human dignity morality. Philosophy. Culture, bioethics. And the threat of megalomaniac. Leaders, in these new, societies. Would. All have to be addressed in order for space colonization, to, meet the psychological. And social needs of people living in isolated, colonies, as an alternative, or addendum, for the future, of the human race many science, fiction writers, have focused, on the realm of the inner space that is the computer aided exploration. Of the human mind and human consciousness. Possibly. On route developmentally. To a matryoshka, brain, robotic, exploration is, proposed, as an alternative to gain many of the same scientific. Advantages without, the limited, mission duration, and high cost of life support and return transportation. Involved in manned missions. However. There are vast scientific, domains that cannot be addressed with robots, especially.
Biology, In specific, atmospheric. And gravitational. Environments. And human sciences in space. Another. Concern, is the potential, to cause interplanetary. Contamination. On planets, that may have a hypothetical. Extraterrestrial. Life. Topic. Physical. Mental and emotional health, risks, to colonizers. An additional. Concern, is the health of the humans who may participate, in a colonization. Venture, including, a range of physical mental, and emotional health, risks. Topic. Involved. Organizations. Organizations. That contribute, to space colonization, include. The. Space Studies Institute funds, the study of space habitats. The. National, Space Society is. An organization. With the vision of people living and working in thriving, communities, beyond, the earth the. NSS, also, maintains, an extensive library. Of full-text, articles, and books on space settlement. The. Space Frontier, Foundation. Performed space advocacy. Including, strong free market capitalist. Views about space development. The. Living universe foundation. Has a detailed, plan in which the entire galaxy, is colonized. The. Mars Society promotes. Robert zubrin's, Mars direct plan in the settlement, of Mars. The. Planetary, Society is, the largest space interest, group but has an emphasis on robotic, exploration and, the search for extraterrestrial life. The. Space settlement, Institute is searching, for ways to make space colonization, happen. In our lifetimes. SpaceX. Is developing, extensive, spaceflight, transportation. Infrastructure, with the express, purpose of enabling long-term, human settlement, of Mars. Initial. Flight testing, of the first test article, a low altitude low, velocity, version, of their starship spacecraft. Is expected, to begin in Sec, and D quarter, 2019. Students. For the exploration and, development of, space se, D s is a student, organization, founded. In 1980. At MIT in Princeton. For. Site nanotechnology. Institute, guiding, nanotechnology. Research to, improve fuels, smart, materials. Uniforms. And environments. For the pursuit of space exploration and, colonization the. Alliance. To rescue, civilization. Plans to establish backups. Of human civilization. On the moon and other locations, away from Earth, the. Artemis, project, plans to set up a private lunar, surface station. 3. The British interplanetary society, promotes. Ideas, for the exploration. And utilization of. Space including. A Mars colony, future, propulsion, systems, C project, Daedalus terraforming. And locating. Other habitable, worlds, registration. Required. In. June 2013, the best began a project to re-examine, the space colony, studies of the 1970s. And revised them in view of advances, made since then as. Gardea. Nation, and organizations, searching, to circumvent limitations. Placed by outer space treaty. The. Cyprus space exploration. Organization. C SEO promotes, space, exploration. And colonization and. Fosters, collaboration in. Space. Topic. In fiction. Although. Established, space colonies, are a stock element, in science, fiction stories, fictional. Works that explore, the themes social, or practical, of the settlement, and occupation. Of a habitable, world are much rarer. Equals. Equals see also.
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