Space colonization strategies.

[Eclogite]

Adrian,
your questions, I think, expose the heart of the matter. Space exploration, and even more so, colonisation, is not as much a technical matter as a political matter.
Twelve years after the first satellite went into orbit men were walking on the moon. Why? Because the political will was there. Consequently the technical challenge was readily met.
Had the political will remained we should have been on Mars by the 1980s, with a basic colony now well established. Once again it is not the technical difficulty that keeps us in Near Earth Orbit, but lack of political will.

And if, through slow progress, such exploration became affordable by large private companies we shall likely see governments resisting this step. Why? Governments, of the East and the West, like to control their populations. You cannot control someone who is sitting on abundant energy and unimaginable quantities of raw materials.

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Eclogite

And if, such exploration became affordable by large private companies we shall likely see governments resisting this step. Why? Governments, of the East and the West, like to control their populations. You cannot control someone who is sitting on abundant energy and unimaginable quantities of raw materials.

Good point Eclogite.
What if these companies that could afford such an endevour have MORE control and influence than governments??

Mars will be colonised by Wal-Mart!
Wal-Mars!!

I'm sure they could set up "distribution" chains...and find a way to turn a profit on the resources...eventually.

[CraigD]

http://hypography.com/forums/newrepl...wreply&p=94710

Originally Posted by Adrian Cobon

Exaclty how much would this cost a private company to do this? …
I know that future technology will lower the cost, but how big would the company have to be before it can afford to lose the huge amount of start-up money? Basic economics - if you cannot make up the money quickly enough to pay off the debitors don't bother.

Many technologists and science fiction writers have considered these questions in varying seriousness and depth. Most have concluded that private space exploration could be made sufficiently attractive to short-term venture capitalists to be adequately funded (unsurprisingly, as it would make discouraging reading for them to conclude that it could not).

If the venture in question is funded mostly or entirely by private venture capitol, the size and financial resources of the actual enterprise company can be minimal.

A few of the more interesting proposals for a space program with a rapid return on investment of which I’m aware include:

• Power - using earth orbiting microwave lasers (masers) to launch “starwisp” exploration vehicles, then using the same lasers to provide electrical power to ground microwave receiver stations. (see

  “Indistinguishable from Magic”
  “Indistinguishable from Magic”

  , by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Forward)
• Rare metals - Using a mass-driver to insert a metallic asteroid into an Earth orbit, then mining and deorbiting large quantities of very valuable metal (eg: platinum). (various writers)
• Amusement park rides - Putting telepresent robots on the Moon, and allowing “tourists” to operate them for a high price. (various writers)
• Movies - Releasing a video documentary of a manned space mission commercially, in the hope that if would generate great theatrical and video and revenues. (See

  “Voyage to the Red Planet”
  “Voyage to the Red Planet”

  by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Bisson).

[TheBigDog]

I think that we could have a private space station in five years if we set our minds to doing it. We would need to exploit the modern methods of funding.

Self contained units about the size of a small mobile home would be launched one at a time on the nose of a Delta rocket. There would be a capsule like reentry vehicle/command module on each. You would fund each launch primarily by lottery. You would sell tickets for say $10 each to be a crew member, including $10,000,000 in prize money. A total of 50,000,000(maybe less?) tickets would be sold for each launch. That would cover the cost of construction and launch of each module. Then I would have a reality show surrounding each launch for the opportunity to be a crew member for the mission. The revenue from the show would also go to fund each mission and keep the public interest in the program at a peak. Call it a four man crew. I pure passenger in the lottery winner. 1 reality show winner as a worker, and 2 mission specialists. Also have corporate funding for each mission, including advertising on the launch rocket, capsule, reentry vehicle, etc. Commercialize the hell out of it to get it paid for.

With a bit of venture capital and the right players you could begin the process tomorrow. The idea is to keep it simple and make it profitable from day one. It is a place for people to go and enjoy. Use proven technologies, and give everyone in the world the chance to play along.

Once you have the station established you begin the process of making it first a permanent private space laboratory with companies renting space for research and experiments. The Company would run the place. A larger reentry vehicle would be launched from a Delta and dock with the station to bring people and supplies, and bring others back down.

Once the core of the station was built you could continue to make it grow like a honeycomb using the same modular pieces. At the center nearest the earth would be the docking module. This is where ships would attach to the station. At the space end of this would be the center section of the station. It would be surrounded by six other sections. There would be transit tubes at both ends for moving from one section to another. This configuration of 8 pieces would be the core of the station. Around this you would put another 12 sections forming the outer portions of the station.

I envision ultimately building a ring around the outside of the core at a distance of x feet. Once completed the whole station would be spun so that is would have high enough gravity in the ring to prevent bone and muscular deterioration, yet be going slowly enough that the outer part of the inner section would have very near zero g, and the center would be functionally at zero g. You could extend the zero g section like a tail pointing into space using the same modular design.

Stability of the ring would be provided my having an ocean that it floats on. Under the floors would be water bed style bags of water with connecting tubes. With the floors floating in this manner you would always have perfectly distributed weight around the ring. This large reservoir of water also lets the inhabitants have a more hygienic stay in space that they get today.

Who wants to see it happen? How long should it take to get this started?

Bill

[Rebiu]

The lunar dirt or regolith contains all the necessary elements for a self generating colony on the moon.

The major elements in lunar regolith are
Oxygen
Silicon
Aluminum
Calcium
Magnesium
Iron
Sodium
Titanium

Minor elements
Sulphur
Phosphorus
Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Helium
Neon
Argon
Krypton
Xenon

The regolith is already a fine powder and therefore in the optimal form for collecting and processing. The raw regolith can be compressed and sintered into building blocks as pavement. The oxygen can be combined with hydrogen from the solar wind to create water. Solar panels can be constructed from these native materials therefore making electrical energy one of the most abundant resources.

These resources are so readily available and easily processed on the moon that, once the infrastructure is in place no terrestrial system will be able to compete. Finished products can easily be accelerated to earth from the lunar surface or any other solar body. Launch from the earth to the moon cost $10,000/lb but will cost virtually nothing to launch form the moon.

[Aireal]

Adrian Cobon, Since making my post I have learned that the Russian's have seen the need for small, cheap, supply ship.

On another forum, several of us are working out the details for such a ship, and it does not appear to be as complcated as we first thought, and many off the self technologies can be used, so not as much research will be needed to get this concept off the ground. Thus the company need not be very large, as many components can be bought or sub-contracted.

Funding it may be the hardest part, until the first ship is built. Once in space, like any transport company, they would charge a fee to deliver cargo from low Earth orbit to whereever it was needed. It would take a number of years before construction and launch costs were paid for, so investors would have to wait some time before a profit is seen. People who invest in space travel would not be looking for a quick return on their money, but would expect large returns at a latter date.

Lastly you ask if big goverments would national regions of space for their own benefit. If the private sector does not get involved in space, of course they will. Why else would they plant a flag on the Moon, or any other rock they land on? If companies can get to an area first, they will most likely do the same. If alien life is ever discovered that is not as advanced as us, they will suffer the same fate as the American Indians in our rush to claim new lands. Technology advances quickly, but humanity does not.

[chamilton333]

underground colonies would be the best strategy, i think. in any case, we would have to manufacure a fake atmosphere. a huge dome would have to be constructed. it would probly be cheaper to burrow down, and create an atmosphere were the soil would naturally keep the air belowground. and how to get food? if you just shipped it it would cost about 60 million dollars per trip! if we had farms, we might be able to genetically modify the food to make it accept the nutrients in the moonsoil. but the soil might not be able to provide the proper nutrients. could genetic engineering be advanced enough by the time we colonize the moon to make a whole knew moon species, with a totally knew look, taste, and cell makup? and what about animals?

[Rebiu]

Originally Posted by chamilton333

underground colonies would be the best strategy, i think. in any case, we would have to manufacure a fake atmosphere. a huge dome would have to be constructed. it would probly be cheaper to burrow down, and create an atmosphere were the soil would naturally keep the air belowground. and how to get food? if you just shipped it it would cost about 60 million dollars per trip! if we had farms, we might be able to genetically modify the food to make it accept the nutrients in the moonsoil. but the soil might not be able to provide the proper nutrients. could genetic engineering be advanced enough by the time we colonize the moon to make a whole knew moon species, with a totally knew look, taste, and cell makup? and what about animals?

I think that cultivation of algai, fungus and bacteira is the key. Terrestrail plants are not efficient enough. Algai grow much faster and could be engineered and processed to provide all the necessary nutrition and variety people need.

Algai could be cultivated in a kind of solar panel. The water and algai would pass through an array of clear pipes that expose it to sunlight and then pumped into a processing unit. This minimises the atmoshperice volume necessary for food production as well as simplifying soil preperation and harvesting. This also facilitates continuous food production rather that cyclical production.

This technology would be so efficient that it could easily be decentralised. Imagine a meteor impact, accident, or disease wiping out centralized food production.

[chamilton333]

Originally Posted by Rebiu

I think that cultivation of algai, fungus and bacteira is the key. Terrestrail plants are not efficient enough. Algai grow much faster and could be engineered and processed to provide all the necessary nutrition and variety people need.

Algai could be cultivated in a kind of solar panel. The water and algai would pass through an array of clear pipes that expose it to sunlight and then pumped into a processing unit. This minimises the atmoshperice volume necessary for food production as well as simplifying soil preperation and harvesting. This also facilitates continuous food production rather that cyclical production.

This technology would be so efficient that it could easily be decentralised. Imagine a meteor impact, accident, or disease wiping out centralized food production.

and also it would cost more to burrow more soil, so underground colonies would have minimal open space. talk about claustaphobia!

[Rebiu]

Originally Posted by chamilton333

underground colonies would be the best strategy, i think. in any case, we would have to manufacure a fake atmosphere. a huge dome would have to be constructed. it would probly be cheaper to burrow down, and create an atmosphere were the soil would naturally keep the air belowground.

Good point. Underground living is essential as it will take about 6 feet of lunar soil to adequately protect for radiation.