Russia Ignores Fears, Reaches Out Towards Phobos (Mars)
Despite being inactive in the whole “deep space exploration” hobby (at least with humans), Russia is determined to once again reclaim their place among the stars by planning a trip towards the Martian moon of Phobos.
Although the purpose of the expedition is to collect soil samples from Phobos (not an easy task as the Japanese can tell you), Russia is apparently visiting the asteroid moon to potentially solve another mystery.
“Our country is about to return to planets and stars. We must learn how to fly to deep space, to Mars, after a 20-year break,” Khartov told the Interfax news agency.
He admitted the Phobos mission would be “very risky”, but said “the first step must be made”.
Russia had spent about 5 billion rubles (161 million U.S. dollars) preparaing for the three-year mission, which would include drilling Phobos’ surface and returning 200 grams of soil back to Earth in 2014, he said.
The mission would also collect bacteria samples for two Russian and one U.S. biological experiments. (Xinhua News Agency)
Thanks to a steady diet of cosmic (as well as solar) radiation, scientists will probably find microbes to be in short supply (although a find upon the surface would be extraordinary).
While drilling for life may yield zero results, understanding the soil upon Phobos is valuable as the lunar space rock might be humanities key towards conquering the red planet.
Russia will probably need the assistance of NASA and Japan to successfully extract soil from the lunar asteroid (especially when it comes to funding the mission), but despite the challenge it’s great to see the nation that introduced humanity to the stars regain their passion for the cosmos.
(Image Credit: European Space Agency, hat tip: Mars Daily)
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The Key Towards Mars Is Deimos?
Orbiting under 24,000 kilometers from the crimson world’s surface, the Martian moon Deimos isn’t exactly a beauty to behold up close in the celestial sky.
Despite it’s eyesore appearance (a common theme among asteroids), this ugly space rock could be the key towards humanities quest to conquer the red planet in the semi-distant future.
A site near the “arctic circle” on Deimos offers 10 months of continuous sunlight during Martian summer, enabling the use of simple solar power systems.
Astronauts also would have direct line-of-sight to Earth and to rovers on the surface of Mars, simplifying communication, according to the Lockheed Martin fact sheet.
During Martian winter, a similar site in the southern hemisphere is continuously sunlit. A cryogenic propulsion stage for Earth return could be stored in the cold shadows of a large south pole crater on Deimos. (Space.com)
Although similar outposts could be developed upon Deimos’s larger sibling Phobos, the latter resides much deeper within Mar’s gravity well, which may not appeal to space faring nations strapped for cash (due to fuel costs).
Deimos could also serve as a haven for future explorers seeking shelter from the wrath of Mars via global dust storms.
While Phobos will play a critical role in helping humanity settle the surface of Mars, the asteroid moon of Deimos will enable us to establish a stronghold in the planetary system (without having to immediately land upon the red planet).
Note: Promo video from Lockheed Martin (and a trip down memory lane of what was).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvalg9kBA9Y&w=540]
Image and Video Credit: Lockheed Martin
Read MoreAsteroid Mining Is Nothing But A Pipe Dream?
(Image Credit: How Stuff Works)
If there was one future space industry with the potential of making space affordable it was asteroid mining.
With many of these space rocks harboring untold riches via (rare earth metals), it was assumed that mining these planetoids could help fund our trek into the final frontier without us having to resort to immediately stripping the Moon’s surface for helium-3.
Unfortunately it looks like our quest to harvest these metallic mountains may not yield the profits we were hoping for, which means that humanity may need to look for another lucrative alternative soon.
With the costs of rare earth metals on the rise, why can’t space entrepreneurs mine asteroids for platinum and other REM’s and return the materials to earth? Shouldn’t finding so many near earth asteroids make the problem even easier to solve (less delta-v to reach these nearby asteroids)? [...]
Assumptions:
- Mission: Mine platinum on NEOs and return the processed ore to earth for sale and consumption. Sale of platinum sole revenue source for the mission.
- Mining Efficiency: for every one kilogram of mining equipment launched, the machinery could mine 100 times that amount of NEO material (2500kg mining device could mine 250,000kg of NEO material)
- Mining Device mass: 2500 kg
- Platinum concentrations on the NEO: 0.3%
- Price of Platinum per kilogram: $58,500
- Mission Cost: $600M
Based on these assumptions, the sale of the platinum mined on the asteroid would cover 7% of the mission costs. This business plan stinks. Not 7%, that seems too small. Really? Only 7% of mission costs could be covered with the assumptions above? (Space Business Blog)
Be sure to read Colin Doughan’s entire article, which delves into possible ways for asteroid firms to break even (the best scenarios being that we find asteroids rich in platinum or discover ways to drastically reduce costs).
If asteroid mining is proven to be a “pipe dream,” it may make more financial sense to mine Mercury instead of attempting to make a profit off of a random space rock (at least those that reside near our home world).
Read MoreWill The Dawn Space Probe Unlock The Secrets Of The Asteroid Belt?
Last month Dawn, a space probe sent to analyze the mega asteroid Vesta and its bigger brother Ceres officially entered the asteroid belt.
Contrary to what you might have seen on Star Wars, it’s very unlikely that Dawn will run into an over sized boulder, let alone a large pebble as it travels its way between the inner and outer planets.
Despite the fact that Dawn is about 600 days away from its first destination (that would be Vesta), its analysis could determine whether or not establishing mining colonies within the asteroid belt is worth the hassle.
Dawn’s final destination is Ceres, a world that may hold promise for water ice, making it a valuable asset (at least as far as space real estate goes).
NASA still has not determined what it will do after Ceres, although hopefully they will consider exploring other promising asteroids (like Pallas, Juno and Hygiea).
Read MoreThe 7 (Future) Wonders Of The Solar System
Two hundred years after the first man and woman graced the plains of Mars, humanity is still isolated to just one star system.
Despite an intense campaign by the Alpha Centauri Society, humans overall have little desire to travel between stars due to cost and technology.
Although this rowdy species has yet to claim their interstellar inheritence, they have transformed their solar playground around them, producing seven wonders that will go down in galactic history.
The Silver Stripes of Mercury
Originally conceived as a penal colony, industrial corporations decended upon Mecury after discovering large deposits of minerals and metals upon its surface.
While its close proximety to the Sun has made Mercury famous for its Magsail races, it’s the billions of solar panels that encircle the planet on the surface (in “neat” rows varying between 1-10 km wide) that make this world an engineering wonder.
The planets 100,000 residents use the energy produced during the Mecurian day to power the ores and cities on the dark side of the planet when it’s safe to work above ground (due to the Sol Star’s radiation).
The Bio Gardens of Luna Maria
(Image Credit: Daein Ballard)
Officially designated Luna Maria after the failed Lunar revolution (condemned by government and religious leaders on Earth), Luna Maria has transformed its appearence from a white barren wasteland into a “second Eden,” which now boasts 60 million residents.
After generating enormous wealth from exporting oxygen throughout the Sol System, Luna Maria has erected hundreds of thousands of enormous, interconnected biospheres upon 87% of its surface, giving Luna Maria the appearence of a miniture Earth from space.
Luna Maria’s artificial planetary magnetic field (the only one in existance due to cost) has allowed the moon to use bees instead of ants to pollinate its crops, producing gardens unrivaled throughout the star system (due to it’s 16.7% Earth norm gravity).
The Phobian Skyhook (Or Martian Space Elevator)
(Image Credit: Steve Bowers)
After failed attempts to construct a space elevator on Earth (due to infrequent yet devestating global wars), humanity was finally able to construct a skyhook on the Martian moon of Phobos.
This engineering feat has enabled Mars to inexpensively export its vast supply of water throughout the asteroid belt and inner Sol System, bringing mixed prosperity to the 8 million residents of Mars.
While the red planet’s globacanes prevent a space elevator touching the ground from ever being built, the Phobian Skyhook is an impressive site to see when orbiting this crimson world.
The Jovian Jewel Callisto
(Image Credit: Thomas Guilpain)
Originally established as a way station world during the Helium-3 rush (in which thousands sought to harvest the isotope for profit), Jupiter’s moon Callisto attracted millions of residents after being declared the safest radiation world after Earth.
Using its brother moon Ganymede as an agricultural world (due to it’s natural magnetic field), Callisto developed the means to feed its enormous population of 750 million, who built cities covering 96% of the entire surface.
Using robots to harvest radioactive materials from both Io and Europa to power its cities (as they are too dangerous to be visited by humans), Callisto brilliantly shimmers in the dark whenever it falls underneath Jupiter’s shadow.
The Beacon Towers Of Titan
Often declared as “an astronomer’s hell” due to it’s cloudy covering, Saturn’s moon Titan is considered a musicians heaven due to the richer sound that’s a result of it’s atmospheric presure and composition.
While Titan eventually became wealthy by exporting methane and ethane to the Sol System, the cloudy moon was extremly difficult to navigate as its crust rested upon a methane/ethane mix, causing it to “slightly drift” and rotate due to the worlds strong winds.
Since traditional forms of GPS were utterly useless, numerous 1.5 kilometer tall Beacon towers (beaming out intense radio waves) were constructed thoughout the moon, giving its 4 million residents a faux GPS system (making travel and commerce throughout the world a lot easier for all).
The Floating Cities Of Uranus
(Image Credit: Star Wars, original artist unknown)
Originally built by various Terrian corporations to harvest methane and helium-3 within the clouds of this ice giant, these floating cities soon became tourist attractions for the more affluent seeking to escape the low gravity life of lunar worlds orbiting gas giants.
These giant orbital space stations boast near Earth gravity, and mimic the daylight cycle on Earth by floating around the enormous ice giant which its residents call home.
While estimates put the total population between 80,000 wealthy souls, these floating cities are known to have hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through their space ports each standard year, many of them heading towards the Neptunian Lagrange asteroid fields.
The Plutonian Ice Bridge (aka Solar Bridge of Pluto And Charon)
Boasting no more than 50,000 brave souls, this world was originally settled upon by government scientists from various Terrian, Martian and Callistian nations seeking to conduct experiments considered too hazardous (and/or controversial) on their respective home worlds.
While the world and its smaller moon hold little value (both visually and economically), one interesting feature of this binary system is the solar bridge connecting both Pluto and Charon together.
This engineering feat was originally built to reduce the cost of travel between both worlds via rockets although conspiracy theorists have their own conclusions for its existence (none of which will be cited here).
What about Earth?
Although the human race has made great strides in establishing colonies throughout the Sol System, most of its 20 billion individuals reside on the birth planet Earth.
While Earth is still home to some of the greatest scientific discoveries known to man (and women), there are no great engineering wonders to speak of, aside from the beautiful beaches, mountains and vast blue oceans that distinguish our home world from every other sphere that orbits our star.
Update (11/24): Corrected grammatical errors. Thanks!
Read MoreChinese-Russian Probe To Explore Red Planet, Radiation And Phobos
After establishing an alliance between each other, it looks as if the two major eastern space powers will be exploring “all things Mars” by sending a probe to analyze not only the Martian weather, but its asteroid moon as well.
(Mars Daily) The first joint Chinese-Russian mission to Mars is set to take off in October and reach the red planet in August 2010, an exploration project designer said.
A Russian Zenit rocket will launch a Chinese Yinghuo-1 satellite and a Russian Phobos-Grunt unmanned lander, Chen Changya, chief designer of the China-Russia Mars exploration project, told Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po newspaper.
Phobos-Grunt is expected to study Mars from orbit, including its atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation, before landing on Phobos, one of Mars’ two small moons.
Phobos is one of the prime locations in our solar system, and any nation (or group of nations) that is able to secure this tiny satellite will probably end up dominating the Martian planet as a future space power.
Political ambitions aside, the Phobos-Grunt should help provide more information regarding how much radiation impacts the red planet, as that could determine just how safe living on Mars may be.
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One Solar Space Power To Rule Them All?
Image Credit: Loony Tunes
Note: Article inspired by NASA Watch, The Planetary Society and 21st Century Waves
Warning: This is an extremely long article, so you may want to grab a quick snack as you read through this post.
Anyone who has ever played board games such as Risk and Monopoly knows that the overall purpose of the game is for one player to dominant the board by either taking territory or securing financial resources ahead of their rivals.
The same rule also applies to the final frontier as evidenced by the space race emerging in Asia, as well as between the US and China.
While every nation probably has their own “road map” for conquering the final frontier, there are no less than five critical locations (ranging from asteroids to dwarf planets to even moons) that a space faring nation must secure if they desire to remain (or become) a solar space power in our star system.
First Stop: Luna
Orbiting a mere light second away from Earth, the Moon could easily be described as humanities second home due to its proximity towards our birth world.
Although the lunar surface may lack water (at least in abundance), its white regolith can be “easily” converted into breathable oxygen, allowing our species to survive beyond our earthen cradle without the need to constantly borrow air from our home world.
Often seen as free on planet Earth, oxygen in space will be literally worth its “weight” in gold, and any nation that can find a way to inexpensively produce lunar oxygen will have an advantage later on over its rivals (and may even be able to sell the precious gas for a profit).
While its oxygen rocks could enable humanity to live off world, its reduced gravity may make the tiny sphere appealing to asteroid miners seeking out near earth objects (aka NEO’s).
Since micro-gravity has a way of eroding bones and muscles, destroying immune systems, weakening hearts and strengthening deadly bacteria, asteroid miners may prefer to live lunar side (with frequent trips to mine these NEO’s), than to spend the majority of their time floating next to a space rock in micro-gravity.
Even though a space faring nation (both current and aspiring) could develop a sustainable presence around the Moon (and nearby space rocks) due to its resources and location, it may be wise to travel beyond Earth’s orbit towards more promising worlds (in order maintain its status a future space power).
Next Stop: The dwarf planet Ceres
Although some would consider it “insane” to skip the red planet, heading to Ceres first will ensure that a future space power has the resources to fund its expansion (note: despite the fact that doing so means sacrificing the prestige of sending the first man or woman to Mars).
Ceres strategically orbits within the metal rich region of the asteroid belt, making this dwarf planet prime real estate (at least to asteroid mining corporations).
Any nation establishing a colony on Ceres would be able to send teams of astronauts to secure nearby metallic space rocks as their own, potentially selling them to future allies or harvesting the mineral resources for themselves.
While the dwarf planet lacks any resources of its own, Ceres is suspected of hosting more “fresh water” than Earth itself, which would enable future asteroid minors to potentially grow their own food off world without depending on frequent supplies from Earth.
It would also allow Ceres to act as a interplanetary rest stop between Mars and Jupiter, not to mention a safe haven as well (just in case the asteroid belt becomes infested with space pirates).
Since most of humanities attention will probably be focused on Mars after the Moon, there will probably be very little competition establishing a dominant presence on Ceres (if not conquer it entirely for themselves).
Third Stop: The Martian moon called Phobos
Despite its popularity in science fiction, Mars will probably attract very few visitors due to the extreme difficulty in landing large payloads on the surface of the red planet.
Coupled with the fact that Mars lacks major resources of any kind (note: at least that we know of), the crimson world may only be inhabited by scientists, various cults and individuals disillusioned by Earthen (and Lunar) governments.
Even though the red planet may not be of much economic worth (at least initially), one of its asteroid moons Phobos could be converted into an enormous space station in order to make it easier to process metals harvested from the asteroid belt.
Since the sunlight on Mars is much stronger than in the asteroid belt, a future mining corporation could use the Sun’s rays to melt asteroid metals en mass before exporting them towards Earth (and Luna).
Although working on an asteroid moon may be profitable, living upon one may not due to the side effects of micro-gravity.
Even though a future miner could always counter the effects of micro-gravity with various drugs and electronic shocks, it may be wiser to settle upon the red deserts below as Mars’s gravity is approximately 38% Earth norm.
In order to reduce the cost of transporting personal (and equipment) to and from the Martian surface, a future space power may need to construct an “orbital space elevator“ on the near side of Phobos.
While constructing this would ultimately open up Mars to the rest of humanity (which a future space power could charge a fee for rivals to use), it would also allow them to import water from the Martian surface (instead of depending upon either Earth or Ceres for supplies).
Fourth Stop: The Jovian moon Callisto
Often regarded as a dead world, the Jovian moon Callisto may be of high worth to any space faring nation, due to the fact that it is one of the few radiation safe worlds in our star system.
Even though Mars and the Moon may have “celebrity status” throughout our solar system, neither of the worlds has a global magnetic field to protect their spheres from the wrath of the Sun.
Callisto on the other hand is not only protected by Jupiter’s magnetic field, but it orbits just beyond the gas giant’s radiation belt, enabling future colonists to raise families (and pets) upon this world without fear of growing a third eye ball.
While Callisto may not have any immediate value outside of being a midway point between the inner solar system and Saturn, establishing an outpost here would enable a future space power to “easily explore” its brother Ganymede.
Although Ganymede’s orbit takes it into the heart of Jupiter’s radiation belts, a properly shielded colony could use Ganymede’s global magnetic field to raise an abundance of crops with the help of bees (instead of relying upon ants who may not need a magnetic field to pollinate our green friends).
While it would probably be impossible for one space faring nation to conquer both of these worlds for themselves, conquering these moons early on (especially Callisto) could give a rising space power significant influence over the future of the Jupiteran system (not to mention the next gas giant as well).
Last Stop: The methane moon called Titan
Even if humanity finds a way to harvest the helium-3 locked away within Luna’s crust (not to mention the atmosphere of Uranus), the cost of mining it m
ay put it out of reach for most interplanetary commercial spacecraft.
Since supplies of Uranium and Plutonium could easily become unavailable for space travel (as many nations on Earth may need them for energy or defense), finding an inexpensive alternative could determine whether or not a space faring nation thrives or merely survives in the depths of our star system.
One way to guarantee that a future space power has the neccessary fuel to maintain its fleet (at least inexpensively) is to establish outposts near Titan’s methane lakes (which may contain an abundance of methane/ethane within them).
While it would not be surprising to see Titan heavily colonized in the fairly distant future (by various countries), securing this world early on would enable a space faring country to establish tremendous influence throughout the solar system (or at least within the ringed system of Saturn).
What about the other worlds?
Although their are plenty of other interesting worlds ranging from the burning crust of Mercury to the frozen wasteland of Neptune’s moon Triton, these worlds may not attract that much interest in the future (at least as far as we can tell right now).
Even though everyone probably hopes that humanity would put aside their differences and explore the final frontier in peace, six thousand years of recorded history seems to hold a dim view regarding this viewpoint (as one can glimpse the wars that have raged upon our planet).
Whether or not humanity decides to conquer every sphere and space rock within our solar system only time will tell.
But either way, these four worlds (plus one asteroid moon) may be the key that determines which space faring nation not only dominates our solar system, but perhaps guides us unto the next one as well.
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Melting Asteroid Metals With Martian Sunlight
(Hat Tip: Gizmodo and Dark Roasted Blend)
Whether or not we head to the asteroid belt before Mars, one thing is clear–while we may have the means to land upon and (hopefully) sift the metal from “the rubble” (or useless rocky material), we probably will be unable to inexpensively melt the metals on site.
Even though lasers are always an option, future colonists may not be too thrilled with using extra power to melt down the space metals, as that would only add to the overall cost of shipping the material elsewhere.
While some may be content to pass the cost onto the customer, it may be cheaper (and wiser) to ship the metals to the red planet in order to have the metals melted down via Martian sunlight.
Since Martian sunlight operates at half the strength of Earth’s, the solar furnace would probably have to be slightly altered to achieve the same strength as its bluer big brother.
Although some may suggest that the future asteroid mining industry could simply ship the metals to Earth, it may be wiser to divert the route towards Mars, as the red planet orbits about 100 million kilometers closer (at Aphelion) than Earth.
Martian colonists would also have the advantage of utilizing the crimson worlds two orbiting moons, allowing mining fleets to melt their metals upon either Phobos or Deimos without having to land on the Martian surface (which has a fairly steep gravity well).
Either way, Mars may play a critical role in our quest to colonize the solar system (which may make it a prime spot for future real estate).
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Moon Base Plus Amor Asteroids Equals Solar Powered Satellites?
(Note: Inspired by Ken Murphy of Out of the Cradle)
If extraterrestrials were (un)fortunate enough to visit our rowdy planet, they would realize that our civilization is powered by death. For our civilization to survive, to expand, and to literally keep the lights on our species must harvest the compressed liquid of billions of dead things–also known as fossil fuels.
While alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and “bio-fuel” do exist, they may not be enough to keep up with the future energy demand (hat tip: Life After the Oil Crash) of our ever growing population.
With energy supplies on Earth finite at best, some individuals have looked beyond the heavens above in order to satisfy our “energy cravings” below.
By simply constructing solar powered satellites (aka SPS) above our blue world, proponents argue that we would be able to not only meet energy demand, but hopefully create a greener environment at the same time.
(Video: A presentation to both Presidential Candidates of 2008 about the need to develop SPS for our planet).
Unfortunately one of the major obstacles to constructing an SPS is the cost of launching material into space, which may make an SPS unreasonable unless a space elevator is constructed (although by the time one is built, it may already be too late).
Since launching building material from Earth may be too expensive, our species may have to hunt for (and utilize) precious metals off world in order to reduce the cost of constructing these massive behemoths–which means future colonists may have to harvest not only lunar soil, but nearby asteroids as well.
Even though the Moon’s surface is composed of mostly oxygen, it also contains silicon, a key ingredient for producing solar cells.
While the Moon also contains other elements such as iron and aluminum (which could provide extra resources for constructing these massive solar panels), lunar colonists may prefer to harvest these elements elsewhere as both of these elements would have practical uses “lunar side” (iron for construction and aluminum for radiation shielding).
Instead of scouring the lunar surface in search of extra building material, humanity instead may choose to harvest nearby space rocks orbiting between our homeworld and the red planet–also known as Amor asteroids.
Unlike the asteroids located in the main belt, Amor asteroids orbit much closer towards Earth, with many of them traveling around in stable orbits.
While their proximity towards our Earthen cradle may make them attractive for scientists, its their abundance of minerals and metals that may make them priceless for space minors.
One Amor asteroid in particular, 433 Eros may have enough precious metals within its tiny frame to be worth trillions of dollars (which should provide more than enough material to construct several SPS’s in space–with cash to spare for financing the project as well).
Even though there are still many challenges to building an SPS (not to mention where to locate the rectenna), our species may have to wait until we begin to harvest our “local neighborhood” before we have enough funds to actually create these energy wonders (without bankrupting our civilization).
Note: Due to lack of time, images will be inserted later on.
Update: Images inserted (with credits given).
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NASA To Locate Most Earth Killing Asteroids
While colonizing the heavens above us is important to our species, defending our home world ranks even higher on the scale.
Fortunately NASA (along with China) will be scanning the sky above looking for asteroids that can pose serious threats to our Earthen cradle.
(Computer World) By the end of this year, NASA hopes to find about 90% of the largest asteroids that could potentially strike Earth, a blast that could throw dust into the atmosphere and cause firestorms and acid rain. These asteroids can be as large as mountains but are at least 1 kilometer (3,280.8 feet) in diameter. NASA estimates that 900 of these objects are in potentially hazardous range of Earth.
Defending our planet from space rocks will probably become a priority long after we expand our presence throughout the solar system.
Even if our species were able to send millions of individuals to colonize Mars, Ganymede, Callisto and Saturn’s Titan, losing Earth would be devastating for our species, as there is no known world like it.
Hopefully lessons learned defending our planet on Earth can be duplicated elsewhere, as an asteroid impact can be one of the few objects that can turn a solar city into a mass graveyard.
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Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Sorting Out Science)
Sam Wise of Sorting Out Science hosted this week’s Carnival of Space.
Despite being new to the event (at least to this author) Sam created a very professional layout for the Carnival, with a mash of links to not only some of the bloggers posts, but to related media sites as well.
We even had mention of space elevators, with the Marc of the Space Elevator Reference and Ted via the Space Elevator Blog.
Be sure to subscribe to either of those blogs as they are covering the Space Elevator Olympics (aka Space Elevator Games) in which their are currently six teams competing (you can find video’s over here).
Other interesting posts included:
- Louise of A Babe in the Universe wonders why it took so long to have a women command the ISS.
- Astro Prof goes in depth about solar power satellites (note: you can view it via Google cache if the site is down) which every newbie should read.
- Jesse of the Space Law Probe brings good tidings that there are no legal show stoppers to building a solar powered satellite.
- Quasar9 enlightens everyone on how satellite mirrors could be used to deflect asteroids.
Next week’s Carnival will be hosted by Pamela over at Star Stryder, and if anyone is interested in submitting a post to the Carnival of Space (as its always great to hear from fresh minds), please visit this link.
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Colonizing Ceres Before Mars Could Save The Red Planet
Some people say Mars is our next home. Other people say Mars is utterly worthless. Regardless of the viewpoint, humans will probably end up visiting the place for “eternal glory,” if not for scientific reasons.
Whether or not our species actually settles the red planet is highly questionable. Unlike Earth’s Moon, Mars lacks major resources of any kind that would make colonizing the planet worthwhile. Unless those crimson deserts can provide some return on investment, it may be wiser to turn Mars into a penal colony, than attempting to recreate the world into a second home.
But humanity may be able to justify settling Mars by diverting its attention towards the asteroid belt first–and the key towards conquering the asteroid belt, as well as Mars may lie upon the dwarf world Ceres.
Despite their major differences, both Mars and Ceres share a few similarities. Both worlds harbor abundant supplies of water, respectively, and both worlds are located closer to the metal rich “zone” of the asteroid belt than our home world.
Ceres however is located within the “mineral field of dreams,” dancing around the sun between 2.5-3 AU (or astronomical units). This places the icy world in the heart of the metal rich zone, the majority of which can be found orbiting our star between 2 and 3.5 AU.
Its prime location gives it an enormous advantage over the red giant, as well as a motivation for both national governments and companies to visit this lonely dwarf planet.
Ceres also has a lower gravity well than either Earth or Mars, making rocket launches off of the asteroid king very inexpensive. Boasting 3% Earth gravity, Cerian colonies would be able to easily transport precious metals back to our home world (from other asteroids) without the need for large amounts of rocket fuel.
Ceres’s prime location as well as its gravitational benefits could (like Earth’s moon) help jump start our solar economy, if not give it a second wind. But how would an active mining industry aid a future Martian colony? After all, if Mars has very little to offer our species financially, why even bother colonizing it?
Despite the fact that Ceres has an abundant supply of water, that supply is finite and will not last forever. As the number of asteroid colonies increase throughout the asteroid belt, so too will the demand for water. Although Earth has plenty of water to spare, it may be simply too expensive to rocket the precious liquid to quench the thirst of asteroid minors.
As the demand for water increases, so will the cost of transporting it from Ceres’s dwindling supplies. While launching water from Earth may not be affordable, launching it from Mars probably will. With only 38% Earth gravity, the crimson planet would have a much shallower gravity well than our blue home world, enabling it to meet the future water demand at an affordable price.
Although Mars may ultimately provide a second habitat for humanity, it may make business sense to refocus our efforts on the asteroid belt first. Not only would it sustain political support from various Earth governments over time (mainly because of the money), but it would satisfy the “why space” questions in the public, without resorting to a short hand list.
(Image Credits: NASA)
Note: Due to lack of time, images (and some links) will be added later.
Update: Added several paragraphs as well as edited a few sentences for grammar and clarity. Also added several images and links as well.
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Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Sweet 16)
Brian Wang of Advanced Nanotechnology hosted last weeks Carnival of Space, which this author was (unfortunately) unable to participate in.
Nevertheless, there were several interesting posts featured, with a few controversial posts entering this space geek roundup, such as:
- Louise Riofrio via A Babe in the Universe enlightens everyone Why Dark Energy Is Bad For Astronomy.
- Phil of Phil For Humanity gives his thoughts about terraforming Mars.
- Chris Reed from Bigelow Aerospace informs everyone on the companies plans to launch a human habitable space station.
- Mark Whittington of Curmudgeons Corner discusses the next 50 years of space exploration (a must read!).
But the best post thus far was by Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams.
(Centauri Dreams) Flight International‘s story on this study reports that a nuclear interceptor could deflect a Near Earth Object (NEO) in the range of 100 to 500 meters if launched two years before impact. Larger NEOs might be deflected with a five year lead time. The idea here isn’t to blast the asteroid into rubble, much of which would doubtless fall to Earth in any case, but to deflect it by a ‘stand-off’ detonation near the object. This could be handled in various ways depending on the sequence and the number of available warheads, and running the numbers shows it might just work.
A stand off blast toward an incoming asteroid could enable the human species to survive not only on Earth, but on both the Moon and Mars as well, as raining space rocks are fairly frequent upon those worlds, respectively.
If humanity can figure out more ways to deter these planetary killers from ever threatening our future home worlds, then colonizing our solar system will become a little less dangerous (at least for future generations).
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Video: New Way For Landing Humans On Asteroids
Although our species has barely mastered the concept of landing humans upon terrestrial worlds, we have yet to demonstrate the ability to land on rocky ones.
Despite the fact that humans could always send robots to the surface of these space rocks, our governments may be more comfortable sending humans to perform this dangerous job.
But before people can dream about mining asteroids, we are going to need to figure out how to land on them first–a problem that NASA and DigitalSpace may have already solved.
(Video: A unique approach for sending humans to safely land on asteroids. Credits: DigitalSpace)
(USA Today) For starters, gravity is almost non-existent on an asteroid, which can be as small as only a few hundred feet across or as big as tens of miles in diameter. And because asteroids have rocky, sometimes crumbly surfaces, DigitalSpace’s proposed spacecraft includes a system that would anchor it like a boat in a harbor. The design includes a ring of airbags with sensors to detect the stability of the ground. Once a landing is deemed secure, barbed tethers would deploy to latch the craft onto the surface of the NEO. Like car airbags, the ship’s airbags would compress against an asteroid’s surface.
“On an asteroid, it’s a different environment that requires a whole new way to land a spacecraft,” said Bruce Damer, president and CEO of DigitalSpace. “It’s like insects being blown around by the wind; they have all this technology to hold onto your arm.”
If humanity can master the art of landing upon these floating space rocks, then we will be able to not only mine these asteroids for precious metals, but perhaps turn lunar asteroids into space stations.
Although space tourism, helium-3 and solar powered satellites have the potential of jump starting our efforts off world, asteroid mining could finance our species efforts towards conquering our solar system (and hopefully beyond).
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Could An Orbital Space Elevator On Phobos Open Up Mars?
Like many of the worlds that orbit the Sol star, Mars has the potential to play a significant role in our future solar economy. The red planet could easily serve as a stepping stone towards humanity colonizing other worlds such as Ceres, Ganymede, and beyond.
But before we can dream about conquering this red gem, humanity may need to figure out how to land humans safely upon Mars, as the crimson planet’s atmosphere may pose problems for future explorers.
If humanity is ever going to conquer Earth’s favorite neighbor, then scientists are going to have to figure out a way to transport large payloads to the crimson world below.
Although a space elevator would compliment Martian colonies by providing a low cost method of delivering goods to the surface, such a structure would easily be destroyed by the red planet’s global storms that dust the surface every three Martian years.
But despite the fact that constructing a space elevator upon Martian soil may be not be feasible, constructing an orbital one (that does not touch the ground) from the base of its nearest moon may not.
The moon Phobos orbits its guardian planet at less than 6,000 km, a distance that should be within easy range of any powerful rocket. With the red planet’s atmosphere extending only to about 11 kilometers, a strong space tether could be constructed just above the clouds, allowing easy access for smaller space craft seeking easy access to the stars.
Another advantage an orbital “Phobian space elevator” would have is the availability of the space port towards the Martian masses. Phobos orbits its parent world in under eight hours, seeing up to three sunrises in an average Martian day.
Constructing an orbital space elevator from underneath this asteroid moon belly would enable colonists to have frequent access towards needed supplies off world, as well as a dependable quick exit if terraforming Mars takes a turn for the worse.
An orbital space elevator underneath Phobos could ultimately open up the crimson world towards human habitation, and allow us to not only land colonists upon this rusty world, but quickly transform Mars into a second home.
Note: Due to time constraints, images will be inserted later on in this post.
Update: Images added.
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Mars: Future Slum World Or An Industrial Paradise?
Of all the worlds that gracefully orbit Sol, none has the potential for chaos or success like the red planet. Known mostly for its rusty appearance, Mars is a world often both romanticized and criticized as humanities second home.
But unlike many of the other worlds that dance around the Sun, colonizing Mars may end up being a financial nightmare for the (future) solar economy, providing little promise of bearing any fruit, at least in the near future.
If Mars is ultimately determined to be utterly worthless, then it may make more sense to skip this crimson planet for Jupiter’s Ganymede, or even Callisto. After all, why spend the resources creating a future welfare planet when Earth could use those resources elsewhere?
The Martian planet’s greatest strength is the fact that water seems to be abundant underneath the surface. But even though water is common on Earth, Mars may become valuable real estate because of its location near the asteroid belt.
Lying between the orbits of the red desert planet and the Jovian king Jupiter, the asteroid belt comprises of many different types of asteroids. Some of these floating space rocks have value, while others may only find appeal from future space fugitives.
The asteroids that seem to posses the most value are M-type (or Metallic) asteroids which orbit within the middle region of the asteroid belt. Fortunately for Mars, the crimson world lies “slightly closer” to these metallic wonders than Jupiter, where a large number of these seem to cluster around 2.7 AU (or 403,914,600 km).
The red planet’s prime location gives it an advantage at mining many of these asteroids first (or at least at a cheaper cost). By exchanging the processed metals for fuel, food, etc., the barren world would be able to support a thriving economy, or at the very minimum survive financially.
If settlers from other worlds happen to establish outposts within the rocky belt, Mars could easily trade buried ice water with future asteroid colonies for metals, or convince a few brave souls to mine the belt for Martian glory.
In the distant future, other icy worlds such as Ceres, Ganymede and Callisto may rival the Martian economy by competing for Earth’s favor. But if Martian citizens play their cards right, they could not only secure their position as a major trading power, but perhaps as an industrial paradise as well.
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Asteroid Mining: The Most Dangerous Job In The Solar System
When a person thinks of the future of space, one often imagines rockets buzzing across our star system at incredible speeds, space stations thriving in the vacuum of space or solar cities gracing the surfaces of foreign moons and planets.
But while all of these things may come to pass (perhaps even a space elevator or two) the future reality is that there are some solar occupations that may entail individuals to risk their lives in order to keep our interplanetary economy going.
One of these jobs just might be an asteroid miner.
Unlike some of the other potential occupations throughout our star system, asteroid miners will face dangers unlike any other explorer. Often located in sparse regions throughout our star system, metallic asteroids will probably not become major spots for tourism, making them lonely companions for asteroid mining outposts.
With most of these invaluable asteroids tens of millions of miles away from the nearest colony world, asteroid miners will find themselves heavily dependent upon supplies for food and water. Their isolation will also make them prime candidates for space pirates, not to mention feuding powers from Earth, Mars and the Jovian systems.
Unless these outposts are protected by a space fleet, they may soon find their boring schedule filled with being invaded by unwelcome guests.
Another danger of asteroid miners will be radiation. Since most (if not all) asteroids lack a magnetic field, asteroid outposts will be at the mercy of the Sun’s wrath, not to mention cosmic rays from abroad. Although outposts will probably have magnetic shields surrounding their bases, this does not guarantee that the rocks that they mine upon are free from being radioactive.
Despite the fact that future asteroid miners will probably have machines deal directly with the floating space rocks, their may be a possibility of these miners contracting cancer (later on in life), which could threaten future retirement plans (as treating cancer can be quite expensive).
If radiation and security were not enough to worry about, asteroid miners also face the dangers of micrometeorites piercing holes through their suits and stations, or (even worse) encountering a meteor shower from an incoming comet.
Future outposts will probably have to rely upon the eyes (and scientific “ears”) of astronomers to warn them of the dangers of nearby comets, although they may have to “take a gamble” when dealing with incoming space pebbles as armor may prove useless against these solar bullets.
But despite the fact that these dangers surround future asteroid miners, there presence in our star system will be desperately needed. Asteroids have the potential of supplying invaluable resources, and the purity of metals could be worth up to $500,000 a ton.
Although this future job may be classified as one of the most dangerous occupations humanity has ever known (within our star system), space colonists may be willing to take on the risk in order to bring back the fruit of their labor towards major population centers living upon terrestrial worlds.
Note: Due to lack of time, images will be added later on to this post.
Update: Images added.
Update (7/12): Corrected grammatical errors (replaced minors with miners).
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Carnival Of The Space Geeks (The Eighth Wonder)
Fraser Cain is hosting the eighth round of the Carnival of Space, and has some fairly interesting posts lined up including:
- Paul Gilster on Centauri Dreams discusses Modeling Exoplanet Atmospheres and makes an interesting note that the further one travels from our Sol Star, the more water we find.
- Dave Rankin on Tales of the Heliosphere discusses how ingrained the 24 hour cycle is to Earth life, which may make colonizing space a little bit more difficult (than previously thought).
- Fraser Cain from Universe Today analyzes the theory about microscopic black holes buzzing inside Earth (scary if you ask me)
- Amanda Bauer on Astropixie reviews how devastating an asteroid impact would be to planet Earth (with a cool video as well!)
- Louise Riofrio from the ever enlightening A Babe In The Universe talks about the beauty and value of the International Space Station, with an image that makes you wish you were there.
But one of the best posts has to go to Henry Cate of Why Homeschool who discusses the future “gold rush” within our asteroid belt:
(Why Homeschool) When I was fourteen I read a book about asteroids. One of the points in the book has stuck with me over a couple decades. The book said that a small asteroid of about one cubic mile was worth about $50 billion. This was in the 1970s. Nowadays the number would be closer to $300 billion. Scientists have found that asteroids have a greater density. There appears to be a greater concentration of metals when compared to the earth. [...]
Early space development may be largely financed by tourists, at least in the short term. Over the years more people and industry will start to move out into space. Mining the asteroids may prove to be the next gold rush. Stories are told of miners walking along the river banks picking up nuggets of gold. It may be that at some point men in rocket ships will be able to fly to the asteroids and pick up valuable metals.
The asteroid belt could very well be the key towards humanity colonizing our solar system. Although the influx of metals and minerals from asteroids will probably drop the prices due to economics of scale, the availability of these metals will translate into more resources available to colonies and star ships.
Despite the fact that tourism is currently driving humanities quest to the stars, hopefully mining these dancing space rocks can fund our ability to not only conquer our star system, but nearby ones as well.
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Vesta And Ceres: The Dawn Of A New Age
(Image: Asteroid Vesta in false color. Credit: NASA)
Like a hostile mountain range separating civilization from the wilderness, the asteroid belt divides our Earthen and (future) Martian homes from the Jovian frontier. In this wilderness of floating boulders, lies a region that is often regarded as rubble, forgotten rocks of little beauty and appeal.
But in this unglamorous region of space lies riches untold for those who are willing to discover it, and with NASA heaven bent on sending its own across our star system, our species may be taking its first steps in locating our first asteroid homes.
(The Flame Trench) Mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 30. The launch window that day will stretch from 5:13 p.m. to 5:33 p.m.
The spacecraft will be setting sail on a mission to study the solar system’s two largest protoplanets, Ceres and Vesta. Flying within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Dawn will swing by Vesta in October 2011 and Ceres in February 2015. It will be the first spacecraft to study two asteroids on the same mission.
Although both of these asteroids differ in composition and nature, both Vesta and Ceres hold much promise as future outpost colonies, especially for future mining industries. Despite its size, Vesta has shown surprising evidence of past geologic activity, which may indicate that heavier metals (and minerals) lie just beneath its surface.
With part of its mantle exposed on the surface, Vesta should provide a wealth of information for geologists, not to mention help “kick start” mining operations in the asteroid belt.
While Vesta provides a financial incentive to harvest the asteroid belt, Ceres may provide the “life necessities” for us to remain there. Rumored to harbor enough “fresh water” to rival our home world, Ceres may live up to its name and allow humanity to one day farm this world, helping to feed those who desire to live in this rocky region of space.
Although NASA’s Dawn mission may not appear as glamorous as a visit towards Mars or Jupiter, it may enable us to gain a wealth of information that will inevitably help fund our trip to the stars.
(Image: Ceres cut out, Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild)
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Penal Solar Colonies, Anyone?
(Inspired by SpaceBlog Alpha)
Roses are red, and violets are blue, but if we go to space, we need a prison, or two? Despite all of the glorious wonders of visiting the worlds that dot our star system, one regrettable custom we will need to duplicate on other worlds are prisons.
Space is not for the faint of heart, and with the dangers of radiation and asteroids already facing future colonists, adding violent offenders to the list may make living off world less desirable.
With the recent case of a solar citizen attempting to kidnap and possibly murder a rival, future explorers may want to consider off site penal colonies as a way to maintain order in an already dangerous universe.
Penal colonies are nothing new to our species, something Australia can easily testify about. Australia was distant enough to prevent ex-cons from returning, yet within reach for the British empire. But where would future Earth, Luna Maria, and Martian citizens place their space prisoners at? On undesirable locations of course!
Located less than 60 million kilometers (or 36 million miles) from the Sun’s surface, Mercury makes an excellent spot for a penal colony. With temperatures approaching 427o Celsius, those imprisoned on the surface (or below it) would be highly motivated to remain within their protective biosphere.
Although this planetary Alcatraz could be quite useful for a few centuries, sooner or later this world is bound to become “desirable,” which may result in its eventual colonization as a civilized world.
Another possible (an perhaps favorable) location for a prison world would be inside an asteroid. Although our solar system is filled with many valuable asteroids, most of these space rocks are made up of a Carbonaceous material which holds little value for miners and explores.
Since these asteroids generally lie near the outer rims of the asteroid belt, their isolation away from planetary systems could serve as useful prisons to house our most dangerous minds.
Despite being a more extreme choice, carving out jail cells on a enormous comets (called Centaurs) could possibly serve humanities interest as well. Many of these large comets do not enter within the inner solar system and their isolation away from major systems may make them prime locations for future colonists, especially for residents of lunar gas giants.
Although an on site prison might be cheaper, the chance of prison breaks and escapes alone might put any nearby habitation on edge. A penal colony may serve a communities long term interest by not only deterring other crimes, but also protecting the colony from immediate acts of vengeance.
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