2.2.2 Jovian moons – Europa, Callisto and Ganymede, 2.2.4 Titan, Enceladus, and other Saturnian moons, 2.2.5 Moons of Uranus, Neptune’s Triton, and beyond, 4 Terrestrial analogues to space colonies, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, Space stations and habitats in popular culture. Other proposed projects include space elevators, mass drivers, launch loops, and StarTrams. Some national space programs see space colonization as a long-term goal. To support Kurzgesagt and learn more about Brilliant, go to https://www.brilliant.org/nutshell and sign up for free. There is interest in colonizing Mars in part because life could have existed on Mars at some point in its history, and may even still exist in some parts of the planet. Propellant launched from the Earth is likely to be prohibitively expensive for space colonization, even with improved space access costs. He suggested a strip colony consisting of an orbital ring extending completely around the planet. (The profile of male life expectancy in the US followed a similar course.). Ground area required per watt would be less than conventional solar panels. They advance that the nationalist argument ignores the resolved multinational cooperative space efforts of our days; that seeing the Earth as a single, discrete object, from space, instills a powerful sense of the unity and connectedness of the human environment, and sense of the immateriality of political borders; and that in practice, international collaboration in space has shown its value as a unifying and a cooperative endeavor. The Space Settlement Institute is a non-profit association founded to help promote the human colonization and settlement of outer space. [citation needed]. See also: Exploration of Mars, Martian terraforming. Space exploration, the investigation, by means of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, of the reaches of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere and the use of the information so gained to increase knowledge of the cosmos and benefit humanity. 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. [14] The extent of the strip colony could be such that the bottom edge is within the atmosphere for communication with the planet and extraction of raw materials. Space Colonization Essay, Research Paper. While the surface of Venus is far too hot and features atmospheric pressure at least 90 times that at sea level on Earth, its massive atmosphere offers a possible alternate location for colonization. Whether Elon Musk or China, the space colonization seeks to fully exploit the planet's resources. Other disadvantages of orbital colonies are orbital decay, and atmospheric pollution in the case of Earth. There is some discussion of it actually being done. Thus colonization and exploration are necessary for humans to advance as finding problems and coming up with solutions is the best way to advance. Media in category "Space colonization" The following 24 files are in this category, out of 24 total. Such a solar sail colony would be free to ride solar radiation pressure and travel off the ecliptic plane. The fact that the increase will overwhelmingly occur in the poorest countries also poses important challenges. Some national space programs see space colonization as a long-term goal. There is a suggestion that Mercury could be colonized using the same technology, approach and equipment that is used in colonizing the Moon. Furthermore, even if humanity manages to avoid devastating the Earth through war, pestilence, pollution, global cooling, or global warming, and even if it should manage to avert cometary impacts, the Earth will ultimately become uninhabitable by the heating from the Sun as this ages, in several billions of years. Location is a frequent point of contention between space colonization advocates. Enceladus is a small, icy moon orbiting close to Saturn, notable for its extremely bright surface and the geyser-like plumes of ice and water vapor that erupt from its southern polar region. There is ample continuous solar power in high Earth orbits, whereas all planets lose sunlight at least half the time. Intermediate goals include colonies that expect only information from Earth (science, engineering, entertainment) and colonies that just require periodic supply of light weight objects, such as integrated circuits, medicines, genetic material and tools. Background. Researchers in conservation biology have tended to adopt the “50/500” rule of thumb initially advanced by Franklin and Soule. Compared to the other requirements, communication is easy for orbit and the Moon. In highly electrified nations on Earth, electrical consumption can average 1 kilowatt/person (or roughly 10 megawatt-hours per person per year.)[7]. Although a fully mechanistic life support system is conceivable, a closed ecological system is generally proposed for life support. Even these may have a certain benefit to colonization, as they present a possible source for the extraction of water. In this paper, Anker discusses the relationship between ecology and the space program throughout history and how the two have informed and built upon each other.He discusses the idea of "Spaceship Earth" and the connection between exploring sustainable … Such colonies would almost certainly be restricted to the polar regions due to the extreme daytime temperatures elsewhere on the planet. It could be argued that the establishment of such a colony would be Earth’s first act of self-replication (see Gaia spore). What’s more, there are some 54 galaxies in our Local Group, which is about 10 million light-years wide, within a universe that … A carbon dioxide ... colonization life-support humans oxygen waste It has the benefits of proximity to Earth and lower escape velocity, allowing for easier exchange of goods and services. Because of these trends, where global population nearly quadrupled in the last century, it may actually crest and start to drop by the middle of this one. The location of colonization can be: 1. Tsiolkovsky had his space travelers building greenhouses and raising crops in space. The benefits of using such sources include: a lower gravitational force, there is no atmosphere, and there is no biosphere to damage. Energy may be an eventual export item for space settlements, perhaps using wireless power transmission e.g. [27], M. Dyson wrote Home on the Moon; Living on a Space Frontier in 2003;[28] Peter Eckart wrote Lunar Base Handbook in 2006[29] and then Harrison Schmitt’s Return to the Moon written in 2007.[30]. This method has zero emissions, so would have significant benefits such as elimination of greenhouse gases and nuclear waste. His most recent article, “The Impending Oil Shock,” appeared in the April-May 2008 issue of Survival. Detractors of the development of permanent space colonies and infrastructure often cite the very high initial investment costs of space colonies and permanent space infrastructure yet they ignore all potential returns on that investment. 4 Nov. 2014. (That this population would on the whole be older—and in that, hardly the demographic profile of a pioneering culture—should also be noted in such a consideration.) The craft would have to be of considerable size, without reaching speeds with noteworthy relativistic effect as mentioned above it would also need a life support system and structural design able to support human life through thousands of generations and last the millions of years required, including the propulsion system—which would have to work perfectly the millions of years after it was built to slow down the machine for its final approach. Recycling of some raw materials would almost certainly be necessary. At present, there are no space colonies. NASA performed a study called HOPE (Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration) regarding the future exploration of the Solar System. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. Equipment is available to extract in situ resources (e.g., water, air) from the Martian ground and atmosphere. This may suggest that the rich industrialized countries will be the main providers of the money and technology for the enterprise, while the fast-growing developing nations provide a disproportionate share of the colonists, but the facts of the situation are more complex. Navigational computers with an advanced understanding of flocking behavior could organize several statite colonies into the beginnings of the true “swarm” concept of a Dyson sphere. Astronauts have demonstrated moving multi-ton satellites by hand. "The Ecological Colonization of Space." [44] Space proponents counter the argument of nationalism pointing out that humanity as a whole has been exploring and expanding into new territory since long before Europe‘s colonial period, going back into prehistory. Compared to other locations, Earth orbit has substantial advantages and one major, but solvable, problem. Space suits would likely be needed for excursions, maintenance, and safety. Therefore, the initial investments must be made in the development of the initial capacity to provide these necessities: materials, energy, transportation, communication, life support, radiation protection, self-replication, and population. Shielding material can be stationary around a rotating interior. However, the fact that Earth-Moon Lagrange points L4 and L5 tend to collect dust and debris, while L1–L3 require active station-keeping measures to maintain a stable position, make them somewhat less suitable places for habitation than was originally believed. Space proponents point out that, while the Earth’s resources do not grow, one more and more learns to exploit them effectively, and sometimes even almost completely, on the basis of nuclear engineering. The climate of Mars is colder than Earth’s. Space colonization (also called space settlement, space humanization, space habitation, or extraterrestrial colonization.) Delta-v’s in km/s for various orbital maneuvers[9][10] using conventional rockets. Colonization of asteroids would require space habitats. 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 or generation ships.[31]. Even for unmanned probes which would be much lighter in mass, the problem exists that the information they send can only travel at light speed, which would mean millions of years just to receive the data they send. Its purposes are permanent human habitation outside Earth and tapping the natural resources found on planetary bodies. Escape from the gas giants (especially Jupiter) seems well beyond current or near-term foreseeable chemical-rocket technology however, due to the combination of large velocity and high acceleration needed even to achieve low orbit. However, the submarine environment provides a somewhat open life support system since the vessel can replenish supplies of fresh water and oxygen from seawater. However, even assuming that the cooperation necessary to make this highly unequal arrangement work is somehow achieved, the fact remains that most developing states are actually well along the demographic path already taken by the industrialized nations. Indeed, there are signs that this progress is being reversed, with smoking and obesity commonly attacked as the culprits. Locations in space would necessitate a space habitat, also called space colony and orbital colony, or a space station which would be intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility. The Moon has nights of two Earth weeks in duration and Mars has night, dust, and is farther from the Sun, reducing solar energy available by a factor of about ½-⅔, and possibly making nuclear power more attractive on these bodies. [3] It also has industrially significant oxygen, silicon, and metals such as iron, aluminum, and titanium. Though, it has also been said that everything that come into existence has an end. Although the growth rate is decreasing, there is no way we can say that the exploitation of resources is exponentially increasing prior to the growth of population. The practice of space architecture seeks to transform spaceflight from a heroic test of human endurance to a normality within the bounds of comfortable experience. For American women, life expectancy improved from 47 years in 1900, to 71 years in 1950—a 50 percent increase in that half-century. The amount of money being spent on space research is in the billions and it has achieved extraordinarily little except for a bit of improved technology which would probably have come about anyway by other means. Ample quantities of all the necessary materials, such as solar energy and water, are available from or on the Moon, Mars, near-Earth asteroids or other planetary body. The total volume of material needed in a full-size community is 1.4 x10 9 cubic meters, and the material available in the asteroid belt (from which the later communities will be built) is estimated to be 4 x10 17 cubic meters, about one twenty-five hundredth the volume of Earth. Underneath a drier outer crust (much like oil shale), some other NEOs are inactive comets which include billions of tons of water ice and kerogenhydrocarbons, as well as some nitrogen compounds. In 2005 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 a single-planet species will not survive … If we humans want to survive for hundreds of thousands or millions of years, we must ultimately populate other planets. These may be expensively imported from the Earth, or more cheaply from extraterrestrial sources, such as the Moon (which has ample metals, silicon, and oxygen), near-Earth asteroids, comets, or elsewhere. However, many people have put forward ideas and thought about the first space colony. This may mean that it is not human beings, but the robotic “mind children” of humanity, that will leave the Earth to explore the universe beyond it, with the vast majority of the flesh-and-blood humans sitting out the adventure at home. Because current space launch costs are so high (on the order of $4,000 to $40,000 per kilogram launched into orbit) any serious plan to develop space infrastructure at a reasonable cost must include developing the ability of that infrastructure to manufacture most or all of its requirements plus those for permanent human habitation in space (see in-situ resource utilization). The main impediments to commercial exploitation of these resources are the very high cost of initial investment,[42] the very long period required for the expected return on those investments (The Eros Project plans a 50 year development. Alternatively, energy could be transmitted to the lunar and martian surfaces from solar power satellites. For: Investing in further scientific exploration of space is a waste of resources. But once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe. Others have also written about space colonies as Lasswitz in 1897 and Bernal, Oberth, Von Pirquet and Noordung in the 1920s. A great proportion of current terrestrial communications already passes through satellites. (The trend is even more marked among the “overseas” Chinese: the four countries with the lowest TFRs in the world being Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and Taiwan, respectively.) is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Space-colonization would absorb even so huge a growth, as we shall see from our calculations. Other objections include concern about creating a culture in which humans are no longer seen as human, but rather as material assets. Rocket Fuel Is a Key Strategic Resource for Space Exploration Heppenheimer. In orbit around the Earth, Sun, or other object, or around a Lagrangian point. Intergalactic travel, as it pertains to humans, is impractical by modern engineering ability and is considered highly speculative. Of course, it may seem a world of nine billion people or more on a planet facing ecological degradation and resource crunches will still suffice to drive a torrent of settlers out to the rest of the solar system. A year or so into the two-year mission oxygen had to be replenished, which strongly suggests that they achieved atmospheric closure. Extrapolations from available figures for population growth show that the population of Earth will stop increasing around 2070. As early as 1948 Wernher von Braun, one of the pioneers of modern astronautics, is thinking about a program of missions to the Red Planet. If humanity has not made permanent habitations in space by the time any one of these incidents occurs, it may very well go extinct. A human colony on Jupiterwould be less practical due to the planet’s high gravity, escape velocity and radiation. He also publishes a blog at naderelhefnawy.blogspot.com. Mars may have gone through similar geological and hydrological processes as Earth and therefore contain valuable mineral ores. Crews of these vessels often spend long periods (6 months or more) submerged during their deployments. Pakistan’s is 3.6, relatively high, but also representing a sustained drop from nearly twice that in the early 1960s, and likely to fall to 2.3 by 2025 according to a United Nations study. The Artemis Project designed a plan to colonize Europa, one of Jupiter‘s moons. He claims that it is more important to reduce existential risks to increase the probability of eventual colonization rather than to accelerate technological development so that space colonization could happen sooner. They would be literal “cities” in space, where people would live and work and raise families. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony. The star Tau Ceti, about twelve light years away, has an abundance of cometary and asteroidal material in orbit around it. Other technologies such as tether propulsion, VASIMR, ion drives, solar thermal rockets, solar sails, magnetic sails, and nuclear thermal propulsion can all potentially help solve the problems of high transport cost once in space. A much smaller initial population of as little as two female humans should be viable as long as human embryos are available from Earth. The creation of O'Neill colonies and the new technology that will let us conquer space travel and new worlds. These materials could be used for the construction of space habitats for human settlement. An alternative solution is to bring hydrogen from near-Earth asteroids and combine it with oxygen extracted from lunar rock. Many NEOs contain substantial amounts of metals. The author and journalist William E. Burrows and the biochemist Robert Shapiro proposed a private project, the Alliance to Rescue Civilization, with the goal of establishing an off-Earth backup of human civilization.[48]. Potential sites for space colonies include the Moon, Mars, asteroids and free-floating space habitats. Space colonization (also called space settlement, space humanization, space habitation, or extraterrestrial colonization.) There are more than 7 billion of people on earth right now. Nader Elhefnawy has taught at the University of Miami, and has published widely on space and international issues. If Enceladus has liquid water, it joins Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa as one of the prime places in the Solar System to look for extraterrestrial life and possible future settlements. In 1758, the Danish Reverend Otto Diederich Lutken made reference to the settlement of human beings on other planets as a way to alleviate population pressure in his article, “An enquiry into the proposition that the number of the people is the happiness of the realm, or the greater the number of subjects, the more flourishing the state.” It was also much on the mind of Nikolai Fedorov in his development of his important ideas about space travel. Transportation to orbit is often the limiting factor in space endeavours. Terraforming Mars would make life outside of pressure vessels on the surface possible. [33] In particular, progresses with the annihilation of matter could render spaceflight and -colonization more efficient and affordable, to a revolutionary degree. 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