HABITATS CAN ORBIT
It is a noble cause and deserves our enthusiastic support.
However, the real habitats for humanity will come
when humanity puts approaching asteroids to much better use than as themes for action movies.
when humanity puts approaching asteroids to much better use than as themes for action movies.
Some asteroids will be refashioned as habitats
for sizable human populations.
NOTE: Compare Earth orbit with orbit of 1862 Apollo, a typical Near Earth Asteroid (NEA).
for sizable human populations.
NOTE: Compare Earth orbit with orbit of 1862 Apollo, a typical Near Earth Asteroid (NEA).
Habitats will orbit about Solar System objects:
Earth, other planets, moons of Earth and other planets, Sol itself, and even large asteroids.
Earth, other planets, moons of Earth and other planets, Sol itself, and even large asteroids.
They will provide comfortable abodes for many people
as well as many types of production facilities.
as well as many types of production facilities.
Dr. Gerald O'Neill postulated the first habitat
Perhaps O'Neill's "Island One" might orbit Earth at L5, and his much larger Island Three might orbit Sol at either 60◦ ahead or 60◦ behind Earth in its Solar orbit (Earth-Sol L4 and L5).
| ORIGIN OF HABITATS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| HABITATS CAN PARK IN ORBITS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitats can "park" in convenient orbits around large bodies such as the Sun, the Earth, other planets, even moons such as Luna (Earth's moon), Europa (a Jovian moon), Titan (Saturn's largest). Thought Experiment (TE) presumes it's possible to park a habitat adjacent a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) and fly in close formation. While traveling same orbit as NEA, habitat's human crew could harvest construction materials and volatile ices. If NEA periodically crosses planetary orbits (such as Earth and Mars), it could possibly become a "cycler", a habitat which routinely rendezvouses with certain planets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HABITATS CAN USE ASTEROIDS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 A typical asteroid's considerable mass might provide:
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| FATAL RADIATION HAZARDS THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
● High energy cosmic rays require constant shielding; they are an ever present health threat in deep space. Over long periods (years to decades), their cumulative effects become deadly.● Occasional high energy Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) produce deadly radiation. Even worse is secondary radiation emitted by shielding material such as metals and regolith. To best protect against worst case GCRs, habitat designers should store considerable water in the outer hulls. ● Regions of trapped solar wind particles produce very high radiation which dramatically increase during magnetic storms near certain planets. ● Solar Proton Events (SPEs) are bursts of energetic protons accelerated by the Sun. Though infrequent, they produce extremely high radiation levels. Without thick shielding, SPEs can cause acute radiation poisoning and death. ● Coronal mass ejections from the Sun are highly dangerous; they quickly prove fatal to humans unless protected by massive shielding. Since the worst case impacts are so great, prudent risk management calls for radiation shields which "over protect" most of the time. Launching this mass from Earth would be prohibitively expensive, but an asteroid host would have abundant mass for this purpose. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASTEROIDS AS DESTINATIONS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| AVAILABLE SUNLIGHT. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Dr. O'Neill discussed co-locating large mirrors with Earth orbiting habitats. These mirrors could direct large quantities of sunlight to the habitats for ample power. Perhaps, very large mirrors can provide Solar power to habitats throughout the Asteroid Belt and beyond. For more possibilities, consider Consolidated Solar Power (CSP) where parabolic mirrors can focus sunlight collected from large areas for much more efficient use of solar power. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASTEROIDS AS GREENHOUSES. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Many asteroids contain ices: water, methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and others. If a small, ten meter asteroid were completely enclosed by an transparent, inflatable sphere; then, a few simple resources (1/4 carbon dioxide,1/3 oxygen, 1/3 water vapor) at only 1% Earth atmosphere (i.e., .01 air pressure at sea level) would suffice to grow some kinds of plants. Of course, this type of air differs from Earth air which is 80% Nitrogen. Thus, add Nitrogen for Earth like atmosphere. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEAR EARTH ASTEROIDS (NEAs). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 NEAs are typical asteroids which cross Earth's Solar orbit. While tiny compared to Ceres, a typical NEA has sufficient mass for a human habitat. It is large enough to provide plenty of resources, but small enough to provide an easy landing pad and even easier launch site. NEAs are often considered potential hazards because of the remote possibility they might impact the Earth; INSTEAD, they should be considered as mining opportunities; even better, consider them for future abodes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WATER THROUGHOUT SOLAR SYSTEM. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Habitats will need lots of water for lots of reasons. Possible water sources include: 1) Earth's oceans will be the most likely source of water for first few habitats. Perhaps water can travel via space elevators to Geo-Synchronous Orbit (GSO). From GSO, process payloads of seawater for eventual use by space bound humans. This method would be slow and expensive, but it's a start. 2) Nearby Comets. For space travel, water from space is much cheaper than water from oceans. A preeminent source of space borne water is the numerous comets throughout the Solar System. As stray comets come to within vicinity of Earth, capture them and use their contents. 3) Collected Comets. Both Earth water and occasional near Earth objects have rigid limitations. Therefore, first interplanetary missions should concentrate on detecting and collecting comets throughout the Solar System. Asteroid Belt Objects (ABOs) will likely have considerable quantities of water and other ices. 4) Kuiper Comets. Eventually, missions to Kuiper Belt will routinely harvest comets. Even further out, missions will harvest bountiful comets from reported billions in the Oort Cloud. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HABITATS CAN DEPLOY IN FOLLOWING WAYS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 1. First habitats will most likely orbit Earth, -----a. Geosynchronous orbit -----b. Earth-Moon Lagrange points. -----c. perhaps even orbiting Luna. 2. As habitats grow larger, they will disperse, first in Terran orbit around Sol. Such habitats will eventually house millions of humans, possibly at the Sol-Earth Lagrange points. ----L4 habitat would lead Earth in its orbit by 60° (Perhaps name it, Alpha (α)) ----L5 would lag Earth by 60° (Maybe name it, Omega (Ω)). 3. Eventually, habitats could orbit moons of the Gas Giants or even establish their own Solar orbits (perhaps to mine asteroids). Some habitats will be "towed" by smaller craft with powerful propulsion systems and then deployed into orbits at other planets. |
Habitats Alpha and Omega will buy these materials from the interplanetary vessels; thus, detecting and collecting plantesimals will prove to be lucrative.
Alpha/Omega will process these materials to add considerable value to them and then sell them to other habitats while these habitats are departing Earth to their destination further out in the Solar System or perhaps another stellar system.
Thus, living on Alpha/Omega will also prove lucrative.
Business Plan Development ... "13 REVENUE GENERATING ACTIVITIES" Rescue Vehicles, Aldrin Earth – Mars Cycler. vehicles, Asteroid Retrieval and Processing. Vehicles, Telepossession Probes and Landers. www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/roundtable2006/pdf/westfall.pdf
Some Useful Links
- KEPLER AND HIS LAWS describe orbits in terms of time and position.
- SPEED DETERMINES POSITION: Determine orbital positions via variable velocities.
- RETHINKING KEPLER'S LAWS Consider an alternate way to determine orbiting travel times.
- LINE OF NODES For likely paths of habitats, consider asteroid orbits which intersect the Ecliptic plane near Earth's orbit.
- Near Earth Asteroid Orbital Elements; A JPL list of Near Earth Asteroids along with their orbital elements. You can sort by period, semi-major axis, perihelion and other helpful criteria.
- Near Earth Asteroid Close Approaches; A JPL list of Near Earth Fly Bys.You can sort by miss distance, relative velocity and other helpful criteria
- Telepossession Transforms Asteroids Into Resources; The big benefit is that the asteroid capture and. rendering remains in a distant orbit and the mass. of the digested asteroid returns to Earth as a. Cycler ...www.higp.hawaii.edu/srr/SRR-VI-presentations/Rodriguez-TelePoss_SRR6.pdf
- Asteroids as Habitats; Asteroids as Habitats. Source, Peter Hamilton.."The NanoFlower". Context, hollowing an asteroid for mining and habitat purposes
- Space colonization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; We may have people making habitats on asteroids... I know that humans will ... Colonization of Asteroids would require Space habitats.
- Astrobiology: The Living Universe - Ethics of terraformation; If an asteroid hits Earth and all life is destroyed, and we didn't bother ... of large space habitats from asteroids which wouldn't harm any planets.
- Cometary habitats for primitive life Comets are thought to have accumulated from a mixture of ices and organic/biologic interstellar dust at the time the solar
- NASA's Space Lasso Mission plans to capture a small asteroid and place in orbit around Luna, Earth's moon.
Humans will construct and inhabit many different habitats;
orbiting habitats (orbiters) will orbit other Solar objects;
cycling habitats (cyclers) will use transfer orbits to periodically return to Earth;
some migrating habitats (migrators) will even cruise to the stars.
orbiting habitats (orbiters) will orbit other Solar objects;
cycling habitats (cyclers) will use transfer orbits to periodically return to Earth;
some migrating habitats (migrators) will even cruise to the stars.
| SLIDESHOW |
| VOLUME 0: ELEVATIONAL |
|---|
| VOLUME I: ASTEROIDAL |
| VOLUME II: INTERPLANETARY |
| VOLUME III: INTERSTELLAR |
posted by JimODell at 1:02 AM
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