[Rebiu]

Compare and Contrast

Surface colonies
Underground colonies
Orbital colonies
Lighter than air colonies
Surface crawler colonies

I suggest that using these strategies any body in the solar system can be colonized.

[orbsycli]

show me

[Jay-qu]

so long and thanks for all the fish spaces.msn.com/hypo-space/
42

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by Rebiu

Compare and Contrast

Surface colonies
…
I suggest that using these strategies any body in the solar system can be colonized.

Though I agree that nearly any body in the solar system can be colonized, I doubt that anyone would want to colonize many of them.

Just as on Earth, to be attractive to colonization, an extraterrestrial body must have something of value to offer its colonists. Most bodies in the solar system are small and far from the sun – hundreds of thousands of Kuiper objects and asteroids, vs. the 9 (or 10 or 11, depending on how you’re counting them) planets and their moons - offering little such value, so are, I think, unlikely candidates for colonization (although they may be attractive as source of raw material).

I expect that exploitable energy will be the main asset that attracts colonization of extraterrestrial bodies, and that the greatest available sources of exploitable energy in the solar system will be the orbital motion of gas giant moons and solar radiation - see ”Sheer human fecundity” and ”Relevance of space elevators in a 1,000,000 times more energy rich civilization” in ”Colonizing the Solar System”.

[Rebiu]

Originally Posted by CraigD

Though I agree that nearly any body in the solar system can be colonized, I doubt that anyone would want to colonize many of them.

Just as on Earth, to be attractive to colonization, an extraterrestrial body must have something of value to offer its colonists. Most bodies in the solar system are small and far from the sun – hundreds of thousands of Kuiper objects and asteroids, vs. the 9 (or 10 or 11, depending on how you’re counting them) planets and their moons - offering little such value, so are, I think, unlikely candidates for colonization (although they may be attractive as source of raw material).

I expect that exploitable energy will be the main asset that attracts colonization of extraterrestrial bodies, and that the greatest available sources of exploitable energy in the solar system will be the orbital motion of gas giant moons and solar radiation - see ”Sheer human fecundity” and ”Relevance of space elevators in a 1,000,000 times more energy rich civilization” in ”Colonizing the Solar System”.

The solar system is unexplored and technologies are currently based on terrestrially available resource. As the factors change so will the motivation to colonize.

[Adrian Cobon]

Mercury, heavy metallic core and so close to the sun solar energy most efficent.

Venus? Probable too difficult to terraform and what is the point of mineral exploitation if the surface is hades incarnate?

Earth, Nope, too many people!

Mars, This is probably going to be the most easily terraformed planet, so this is a surefire bet. The silicon can be broken into smaller elements, I believe?

Europa? Doesn't this body have ice? Wouldn't this be the best spot for a colony of reclusive people who cannot stand Inner System hustle and bustle?

[anglepose]

What is the point??
why send humans when you can send robots
and whats the point of sending robots

[Eclogite]

Originally Posted by anglepose

What is the point??

Reason 1: To avoid having all humanity's eggs in one basket.
Reason 2: To gain access to resources (of energy, material and spirit) on a scale unachievable on Earth.
Reason 3: To realise one of the defining characteristics of humans since our ancestors stepped out of the trees: the urge to explore, to see what is over the next hill.

Originally Posted by anglepose

why send humans when you can send robots

Do you go on holiday? If so why? Why not just watch documentaries of the places you visit? After all, beer will taste the same in your living room.

Originally Posted by anglepose

and whats the point of sending robots

If you are asking that, then I have to ask - what you are doing on a science forum? Science is the controlled application of human curiosity. Are you not curious?

[Aireal]

The Next Need in Spaceship , Space Colony Design

What will be the next great need in ship and space colony design? What strategies must we adopt to colonize space?

NASA talks about going back to the moon and using it as a springboard to Mars, but I have heard no serious talk of how a moon base will be built or supplied. In the near future there will be a need for a cheap transport ship from the International Space Station to the Moon, There may also be the need for a second space station in orbit around the moon. However, I have not heard of NASA nor anyone else working on this need.

We don't need the U.S.S. Enterprise for this mission, not even a fancy shuttle, just cheap transport. Well, cheap by spaceship standards I mean. To ease loading and unloading of cargo, the ship should have a cargo area with bay doors like the shuttle. A robotic arm could unload cargo containers straight from shuttles bay to the transports cargo bay. A robotic arm at the Moonbase Space Station would unload it, load it if needed, before making the return trip.

As this ship design needs to be cheap, but work for a number of years, an ion drive would be the best bet. Another more powerful drive could be added for getting up to speed, breaking, and so on. With a cargo ship, time is not as important, so you might get by with just an ion drive as the main drive. To cut costs even more, these ships could be automated to perform this task, with remote manual overrides of course. People would be needed to supervise loading and unloading, unless this could be automated somehow also. But people would still be needed close by, to take remote control if needed. We can cut the costs of these transports even more by using solar panels as the main power supply. Over time a whole fleet of these little ships could be making cargo runs. Please read my post on ion drives and radiation shielding.

Other issues need to be addressed if these ship are to be the main transport vessel. What if we need to move items that will not fit in the cargo bay? This is best addressed by making the ship modular in design from the start. If the command and engine modules could be separated from the standard cargo module, and then be attached to any other type of module, then you would have versatility. Versatility like this will be what we need to expand into space, building stations and colonies as we go. Modules for such space construction could be put in place of a cargo module for transporting to the site. After delivery, the command and engine modules are reattached, and a much shorter ship, makes the return trip.

This concept of modular versatility can be extended to ease the construction of space stations and colonies as well. As these transport ships age, ion drives, solar panels, and the like will degrade. These ship could be refitted, or used as building material for other space structures. Waste not, want not, I was always told. Once a ship has paid for itself plus a little profit, it may make good business sense to replace them with new ships, and recycle the hulls for other projects. This would give a head start on construction, and reduce the new projects overhead. Let's examine how this would work.

The moonbase space station I mentioned, would not be much of a station, even smaller than the I.S.S. as its main job is just to transfer cargo. Picture one of the cargo ships, with a large flat staging area and a robotic arm instead of the cargo bay module, the ion drive being used to keep it in orbit. The robotic arm would remove a cargo container from a ship and place it in a landing pod on the staging area. The pod is released from the staging area by electro-magnetic locks, and the robotic arm would move it off to the side of the platform to begin decent to the moon. On the surface, crews would unload the cargo, refill the pod, and send it back up. Once there the robotic arm would place it back on the staging area, and lock it back down till needed again. The first real test for our modular approach will not be here, but when we head to Mars, or elsewhere.

Mars will need a far larger space station than the I.S.S. in Earth orbit. Large enough that we could test some space colony concepts here. If it were up to me, we would head to the asteroid belt before Mars, as I believe we will need material from the asteroid belt to help build other colonies. NASA has yet to ask my opinion on this matter, so until then, we will most likely go where they lead. With water being one of the main resources we will need in space, a spot near an icy moon may also be a good location for a space colony. As I have not gave a great deal of thought as to the mission need of a space station/colony in orbit over Mars, so forgive me if I pass on this subject for now and move on to the first space colonies. One last thought before I move on that I just had. The space colony in orbit around Mars has a magnetic field as one of its radiation defences. Will this change the amount of radiation hitting the ground in its shadow? If so, would it be worthwhile to use a network of satellites to provide some protection for the colony on the planet? Now let's move on.

Any early colony in space will start near some resource. Later some may be built for other reasons, and have vastly different concepts, but not at first. Because they are there to exploit some resource, they need to be productive almost from the start. So any design for a colony must allow for the expansion that will come. This limits us in the type of colony we can build to a degree. The first concept that comes to mind would resemble a spoked wheel with a hub. But as it grows, that may change. By locating the positive and negative poles of our Rad. Shield at the ends of the hub, the central spokes and ring are in the zone of max. protection. More spokes and more distant rings would be added. The hub would be extended to allow for more spoke and ring levels. The final form may be sphere of large rings, connected by spokes and tubes. This end design would keep all areas within the shape of the magnetic field. In short, it needs to be built of modular sections that can be moved, changed, or modified as the colony grows.

Lucky for us, we started with a modular approach to space travel and construction. Before the first crew arrives, a number of our supply ships will have been sent ahead and waiting. In addition to a full cargo hold, each one will have a extra module for the colony construction. The crew would arrive in a ship with a construction module. It would have extended crew quarters, robotic arm, and airlocks. The crew would live and work from this ship till the base of the hub of the is built. Then other crew can arrive to start mining operations, do internal work on the colony, and so on. With every supply ship comes one more module to add to the growing structure. Like any settlement, it will draw people for many reasons. The growth may be rapid. Companies will want access to the colony for the profit resources and people provide.

At this point the space race will begin in full force. Those at the front of this movement stand the most to gain, or lose. New technologies will come at an increasing rate. But we will need a fleet of supply ships to get us this far. They won't be any any art praising their elegant shape, no movies about it and the crews 5 year mission to haul water to thirsty people. The supply ships have nothing going for them except the will be cheap, and they will get the job done. They will be the backbone of space exploration.

[Adrian Cobon]

Good ideas, but I have some questions...
Exaclty how much would this cost a private company to do this? Rarely will a government spend billions of dollars on a project that has a high risk of failure and be so far outside of its populace's reach.
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. And how exactly will these colonies be ran? Is that area international territory, thus potential United Nations ground? Or do you think big governments would nationalize regions for their own benefit?