Abstract
One hundred years ago, the western frontier of America disappeared. Thirty years ago, we made a new frontier accessible to man -- space. Since then, one of the most consistent goals of science has been to find a way to colonize that new frontier. That is our goal with this project.
Our task has been to design, in as much detail as possible, a space colony. The format of the project is relatively unrestrained, and the end result shows that. It is, however, a good general model for space colonization, and includes in its description the most obvious flaws and possible alternatives available to science.
In the end, we concluded that a lot more specifics are necessary to be sure about the viability of this design. We need more information on specific attributes of certain molds and algaes, for example, that are impossible to attain through a standard library. There are a number of possible ideas that we've elected not to use in this model, listed in the Alternative Possibilities section of this report, which require much more in-depth work in order to evaluate.
The objective of this project was to create a model space colony. While
resolving the living conditions and construction of the space shuttle as
completely as possible and exploring new approaches to space colony design, we
have attempted to use theoretical and concrete principles to design a complete
and viable space colony.
In order to do this, we spent several days researching materials in the local
library and in science-related periodicals in our homes. Additionally, we used
several computerized resources in this report, including America On-line, the
Usenet, the Internet, local bulletin boards, and several on-line university
documents.
Since Copernicus and Galileo's theories redefined our understanding of space,
humanity has pursued its exploration, in our thoughts and fancies. In the last
two centuries, the notion of space travel has moved from far-fetched space
opera to mainstream science fiction, and then, in the last four decades, to a
physical reality.
Throughout this time, ideas of how to survive in space have been numerous,
diverse, and often far from the truth. Early scientists contemplated using hot
air balloons to travel to the moon, perhaps making friends with the inhabitants
thereof. Later, scientists wondered what kind of atmosphere the moon was
surrounded by, and whether the use of Venusian jungles for agriculture would
change the terrestrial produce market.
Since then, we have discovered that at extreme elevations, the atmosphere is
too thin to support hot air balloons, and that the moon is neither inhabited
nor hospitable. We have learned that Venus is not a dense jungle, nor is it a
petroleum or carbonate ocean, but rather a stone wasteland covered with seas of
lava, and with temperatures upwards of 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
With our increased knowledge comes an increased understanding of the risks we
face in colonizing space. We not only need to bring our own food, but also our
own air. We not only need to bring clean water, we may need to make it,
letting some boil away each day to keep from burning to death. We not only
need to worry about our whether we get enough light, but we may need to make
sure that we are well enough insulated from it that it doesn't instantly blind
us or punch holes in our DNA. The only thing that we can be certain of, is
that in the vast and unexplored reaches of space, we must be prepared for
everything.
The interest in humanity's habitation in space has been a source of
fascination for decades. References to the habitation of space appeared as
early as 1869 in popular magazines and adventure stories, and during the early
portion of this century many of the progenitors of modern rocket and space
science were influenced by these.
Early Russian rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote Beyond the Planet
Earth in 1920. One of the first serious works on space stations, this book
contained many theories on what a space station would need in order to survive.
Later in the 1950s rocket scientist Wernher von Braun wrote a series of
articles concerning a fictional space station. His ideas concerning shuttles
which traveled to and from space are still in use today. In 1951, famous
science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke wrote The Exploration of Space, which
contained a chapter on space stations and colonies. Explorer I, the first U.S.
satellite, was launched in 1958 and became the first observer of the Van Allen
radiation belts.
A milestone was reached in !961 when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin spent 108
minutes in space, followed by Alan Shepard's ascent 116.5 miles into the
Earth's atmosphere. Kicking off the race to the stars, these events were
quickly topped by first Soviet cosmonauts and then American astronauts, among
whose achievements was the 1962 free fall around the Earth by American John
Glenn.
Records continued to be set with the increasing amount of time being spent in
space. Until 1965, no flight had lasted more than 8 days, but in December of
that year Frank Borman and James Lovell spent a record 13 days in orbit in the
Gemini 7. Four years later Soviets surpassed this record with 18 days on the
Soyuz 9. The year 1969 was also a record-setting year in another regard --
astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk upon the face of the moon
on July 20 of that year.
The year 1971 marked the first launching of a space station. The Soviet
Salyut 1 was launched into a low earth orbit, where it could be easily reached
by spacecraft. The cosmonauts were aboard for 23 days, surviving throughout
their stay on the shuttle, but dying on re-entry due to an air leak. Two years
later, the Americans launched Skylab. After hosting three separate teams of
astronauts, the last of which was in space for 84 days, Skylab's systems
failed and it crashed to the earth in 1979. The Skylab astronauts showed signs
of debilitating affects of weightlessness: their calcium was dissolving back
into their blood stream, weakening their bones and creating threatening high
levels of the dissolved element in the blood. Fortunately, these effects
proved reversible.
Less fortunate was the Challenger disaster of 1986. After several extremely
successful space shuttle missions, plans were made, for the first time ever, to
take a civilian into space -- school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Mere seconds
into the launch, however, the shuttle developed a fuel leak, caused by faulty
seals, and was torn apart by an powerful explosion. There were no survivors.
A subsequent investigation charged NASA with abandoning "good judgment and
common sense." The Challenger disaster served as a warning of dangerous
extraterrestrial travel could be.
The space station projects marched on, with new technology and longer
habitation times. The Soviets launched Salyut 6 and 7, which incorporated a
second docking bay among other innovations. First 96, then 185, and finally
237 days were spent living on these stations. The Mir station, launched in
1986, included six docking stations, making it the largest space station yet.
Its crew spent a record of 366 days in space before returning in 1988.
The number of relevant experiments conducted during the last 20 years of the
space program have been huge, but a few of the highlights will be mentioned
here. Aeronautical and astronautical experiments have shown long term
departure from Earth-normal conditions have serious implications to human
health. For example, long term exposure to weightlessness results in calcium
reabsorbtion, something that weakens bones and could poison the human body if
allowed to progress.
Also common is a disorientation, first noticed in the early NASA,
characterized by sensations of vertigo and motion sickness. These generally
disappeared within hours or days, but were quite debilitating until the
symptoms faded. One of the symptoms that never faded was the loss of
positioning senses. The sense of body position was completely obliterated, and
did not seem to return with time despite year-long stays in space. One
astronaut complained that in trying to turn on a light switch, one often found
their arm was more than 45 degrees away from where it should be. This number
did not improve with practice.
More serious risks became apparent when the atmospheric pressure and chemistry
changes. Exposure to low partial pressures of oxygen results in dizziness,
headaches, hallucinations, and eventually death. Exposure to overall low
pressures causes the blood to boil and severe damage to appear the internal
organs.
Food and water pose special risks. Though bacteria and algae tend to grow
well in zero-g conditions, plants are stunted and misshapen, and water and
organic wastes are hard to collect, contain, and treat. While artificial
gravity, cause by the rotation of an environment, helps correct this, it
doesn't solve all problems. At the same time, though, it is clear from a
Boeing study that the handicap of needing to import food from Earth costs more
than 30 times more than growing it in space.
However, studies also tell us that artificial gravity has risks. Its effects
on humans are devastating when the rotated environment is less than 300 meters
in radius, because of Coriolis effects and a mock "tidal effect" resulting from
the varied distance from the axis between head and feet.
Finally, NASA studies have produced a series of statistics related to life in
space. These include food and water consumption based on the temperature and
humidity of an environment, as well as vitamin, micro nutrient, and rest
requirements. NASA's research tells us that approximately five tons of matter
per square meter are needed to adequately shield astronauts from radiation, and
that an human efficiency peaks during the first two hours of labor, and then
falls to a slightly declining plateau in the hours after that.
The colonization of space will prove the true test of humanity's destiny.
Earth, as limitless as it seems, may be likened to a time capsule. It has a
definite life span, a maximum occupancy, and a set amount of damage it can
sustain before it breaks. It has no back-up copy. Should mankind be relegated
to the Earth, we are doomed to destruction, be it a matter of years by
environmental disaster, or a matter of epochs by the death of the sun.
On the other hand, should humanity give up its Earth-tethered umbilical cord,
it will have reached a kind of immortality and invulnerability. We would no
longer be tied to the Earth -- by the time Sol dies and the Earth dies with it,
humanity will have moved on. Far more immediately, no disaster could wipe out
an interstellar civilization. The risks of overpopulation, pollution, and
ozone depletion rapidly fade in importance, because humanity can afford to
solve them at a leisurely pace, sure that the species will survive even if the
Earth itself becomes inhospitable.
The true test of any civilization is how it uses its resources. From the
Anasazi, who died out without ever learning how to use the iron ore they were
surrounded by, to the Romans, who built hundred mile aqueducts to bring water
to their cities, it is the way that a society uses its resources that
determines how great it is. The question now becomes, how will humanity use
the limitless resources of space?
Aerospace terms used in this report are
listed below, for purposes of clarification:
activated-carbon - coal that has been heated so that volatile chemicals are
freed from the extra bonding electrons of carbon, allowing it to react with and
filter impurities from air and water.
air-locks - a partitioned doorway designed to keep different atmospheres from
mixing, as between a space colony and a vacuum or between a pure argon and pure
nitrogen atmosphere.
Apollo group - a group of asteroids, generally less than two kilometers
diameter but ranging up to sixteen kilometers, in a near earth orbit.
artificial gravity - simulated gravity; the most common method uses
centrifugal forces to mimic gravity by rotating the living environment.
asteroid - an extremely large, interplanetary stone.
boiler - a mechanism for boiling off water to export large amounts of excess
heat energy.
breeder reactor - a reactor that uses both U235 and U238 as fuel, efficiently
producing a large amount of energy.
chemiluminescence - a chemical reaction that releases energy in the form of
light.
Chlorella pyrenoidosa - a species of algae extremely well adapted for survival
in space.
Coriolis forces - a illusory force caused by the rotation of an environment.
extraterrestrial - foreign to the Earth in origin or current location.
g-forces - pressure on body, caused by inertial forces or by gravity; usually
expressed as a fractional equivalent of the Earth's gravitational pull.
genetic engineering - the process of altering an organism's DNA sequence to
change its properties.
Lagrangian points - points in any system of massive bodies where gravitational
forces are at an equilibrium.
light-rail - a light-weight, quickly moving electric trolley, similar to a
train.
micro gravity - another name for "zero-g," a state where the absence of an
overwhelming gravitational attraction reveals the minuscule attractions of
small objects in space.
meteoroid - an interplanetary stone, smaller than an asteroid.
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Association, organization in charge of
United States space exploration effort.
solar wind - the constant stream of charged particles being spewed from every
star; usually refers to Sol's solar wind.
terrestrial - related to the Earth by origin or current location.
tight-beam laser - a narrowly-focused beam of coherent light.
Construction and Design
The first step is to select a two to three kilometer diameter asteroid from
the Apollo group, a set of near-earth orbiting asteroids. Then place it in
orbit around earth, and use explosives to roughly shape into a sphere. The
asteroid will serve as the outer hull of the station, protecting it against
solar radiation as well as minor collisions with meteoroids.
Once in orbit, work will progress out of lunar base to begin preliminary
tunneling into the asteroid. In the end, the asteroid will have a hollowed out
cylinder in the center, stretching out about 850 meters on either side of the
central axis. It is wise to balance the mass of the asteroid so that it can by
spun without a wobble, something that could potentially displace the colony or
interfere with the artificial gravity created within it.
The workers, using terrestrial and lunar supplies in addition to raw materials
mined from the asteroid itself, will construct a multistory series of tunnels
in the asteroid, each residential area a nominal 3 meters tall. The main
residential areas will be within between the radius 841 and radius 850 areas of
the cylinder, a total of 3 floors. This will minimize difficulties caused by
Coriolis effects once the asteroid is spun.
Close to this area will be the recreation area, designed to simulate outdoor
conditions on earth and provide for high- and low-g recreation. These
facilities will stretch both above (low-g) and below (high-g) the standard
living area, and will provide exercise, recreation, and escape for the
inhabitants. Schools, vendors, and other non-technical or service related jobs
will probably be interspersed throughout this area.
Separated but near to these sections will be the food, air, water
purification, and organic waste disposal area. This will basically consist of
a series of "food vats" through which all organic wastes, including dissolved
CO2, will be pumped. Chlorella pyrenoidosa algae will be used, both because
they thrive in space and effectively photosynthesize. Among their benefits:
they reproduce at a factor of up to 800% a day, can be engineered to serve as
any one of a number of food types, and can be packed easily into a small space.
As much as 45 kg per acre per day can be harvested, and as much as 8 billion
cells can fit into one milliliter of water. Both water and oxygen-rich air
will be collected after moving through the vats, and then run through
activated-carbon filters for further purification.
There will also be a section devoted to industry and research. This will be
as far from housing and recreation as possible. Several advantages come from
this. First, the nuclear plant that will power the colony, probably modeled on
the French breeder reactors, will be housed here, partitioning it from
civilization as much as possible. Waste from this reactor would be minimal and
could be dumped on the equator of the asteroid. Second, maintenance and
research areas can be placed at any height within this area of the asteroid,
allowing for variable gravity and environments within the complex. For
instance, a welding process could be conducted in high-g to be certain that
molten metal quickly falls away from the material being worked, and kept in an
inert atmosphere, such as argon or neon gas, to insure a that side reactions do
not interfere in the process.
In some central location between these two areas, which will continue to
expand for a some time, will be a region for commercial interests, food
services, educational facilities, nurseries, offices, systems monitors, and
controls (staffed 24-hours-a-simulated-day). Workers will follow the standard
8 hours work, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours sleep formula considered optimal by
NASA.
A series of elevator / light-rail routes will connect each division within the
asteroid, pen ultimately connecting them all with the terminal at the axis of
the asteroid. This end will face towards earth when in its final location, and
will contain both a space port for interplanetary travel as well as a
communications receptor for beaming information to and from the Earth via
tight-beam lasers.
The opposite pole will be a disposal site for those things that must be
jettisoned. For example, this is the ideal location for the boilers that may
be necessary to eliminate waste heat from the colony. A preferable but
somewhat less sound method of handling waste is chemiluminescent radiation,
discussed in the Alternative Possibilities chapter.
Once the asteroid's structure is completed, sealed, and filled in with an
atmosphere (namely, 79 parts nitrogen, 20 parts oxygen, 1 part argon, and a
tiny bit of carbon dioxide), it will be ready to be transported to its final
location. For the first attempt, this should be near enough to Earth that
infrequent trade is possible, but far enough that the colony must be
self-reliant.
An ideal location for this would be in one of Earth's Lagrangian points,
located both 60 degrees in front of and 60 degrees behind the Earth in its
orbit of the sun. At these points, equilibrium is reached between the sun's
gravitational field and the Earth's gravitational field, resulting in a kind of
plateau in space-time upon which an object can be delicately balanced. These
points, cleared of the junk that commonly accumulates in them, are the perfect
site for a near-earth independent colony.
Once transported, the colony would be set in rotation, spinning quickly enough
(probably around 1.2 rotations per minute) to create 0.8 g of force at radius
of 847 meters, the average level of habitation. This would minimize
debilitating affects of zero-g life, such as muscle atrophy and bone
decalcification, and also minimize the affects of rotation-based artificial
gravity, such as gravity variation based on the direction of movement, and the
misdirection characteristic of Coriolis forces.
Social Structures and Personnel
While much of the personnel hired would be based on special research and
industrial programs funded either by separate government programs or by private
industry, a number of essentials are required for the success of this program.
The high level of automation in this colony means few blue collar jobs would
travel to the Lagrange point with the asteroid, but engineers and maintenance
workers would be an absolute necessity to the survival of the colony. While
any estimation made is purely theoretical, it's safe to assume that a minimum
of 3 astronomers, 3 ecologists, 5 biochemists, 5 mathematicians, 10
programmers, 25 engineers, and 10 doctors are necessary for any operations to
continue.
Again, because of the long term nature of this project, it is necessary for
this colony to be a functional society. For this reason, the standard
signposts of civilization must be in evidence at this station. For example, a
priest or minister of several different faiths should be invited, and all crew
should be asked to bring their families. A gender balance would be ideal, but
not mandatory as the second generation will naturally about balanced by
gender.
Because of the isolated nature of this colony, and because the support of
each individual is necessary for survival, a capitalistic society would at most
be a nominal gesture. For example, competition for production would be fatally
inefficient, this economy cannot support an overproduction of goods. While it
seems like most goods could be shipped to Earth for export if overproduced,
this is not the case -- the cost will be too prohibitive to have any shipped
goods not unique to their source. Therefore, it is likely that administrative
control would be needed to set the amounts of production, and while rationing
may be in effect, money would not be used for basic necessities such as air,
food, water, or energy consumption.
On the other hand, money could be used for luxury supplies. Food, water, and
energy consumption beyond the rationed amount could be billed to the user,
probably utilizing a computerized debit account. Though, by necessity, few
luxury items would be available aboard the ship, information would be fairly
easy to come by. A series of tight-beam laser transmitters would be focused at
an Earth satellite from the axis of the asteroid, and a series of receivers
would likewise gather laser pulses from Earth. These would exchange practical
information, such as medical developments, scientific research, transport
schedules, and industrial information, as well as more a more superfluous
exchange of literature, music, and art, digitized and sent to a central
mainframe that serves as the "library" of the station. This library would rent
out to personnel as requested, and perhaps as paid for.
This leaves on the question of government. The government structure, again by
necessity, would bear little resemblance to that of Earth. It seems logical
that taxes would not be needed in such a comparatively moneyless economy. Any
work taxes would accomplish would be part of the basic necessities for life in
the colony. General direction of the colony would not require a vote although
it seems logical that citizens of the colony could be called to vote on certain
issues. The Administrator, whose entire job (and life) will depend on the
success of the colony, will naturally attend to most such duties.
As far as justice goes, there are bound to be breaches of protocol. Most of
these could be handled by the jury system, with the Administrator serving as
magistrate until the population grows large enough to require a separate
judicial position. Typical penalties would be either fines or loss of
recreational time, and would not need to be very stiff. Violence (no weapons
will be required on this station) or refusal to work will invoke an ultimate
penalty, unavoidable in space -- being exiled from the ship. This would in
almost all cases mean death.
Given enough space, and enough involvement in society, humans generally get
along well. NASA has predicted that each civilian involved in a space colony
would need somewhere around 270 cubic meters to insure their mental condition,
however, military personnel survive long periods in as little as 20 cubic
meters. Colony personnel will quickly adapt to an amount somewhere between
these figures.
What we have been able to provide in this report is clearly not a blueprint.
It's also not a complete building procedure, a study, a comprehensive research
paper, or a ready-to-begin-construction proposal. However, it does serve as
framework by which a long-term colony could be designed, and it does elucidate
some of the most critical problems facing the aerospace industry. For the most
part, the theory presented here is sound -- it could work, given money and
resources to construct it. The experimental data available from such a station
would be astounding, and the step would be a first critical move in the
development of an interplanetary or perhaps even interstellar space program.
Finally, the resources to which this would open the door could support humanity
for centuries to come.
The first major hurdle that needs to be crossed is the capture and
transportation of the asteroid. While we have the capabilities, especially in
space, where there is little to no friction, sufficient thrust will be hard to
attain for something as massive as this. Several alternatives are possible,
such as hollowing the asteroid as much as possible before any movement is
attempted. A possibly more useful method, discussed in the Alternative
Possibilities section, would be to use a light sail to harness solar wind and
pull the asteroid to Earth and later to the Lagrangian point. However, another
problem awaits us when we get there. It may be similarly difficult to cause
sufficient angular momentum to create artificial gravity.
Secondary hurdles are just as hindering. The basic design of the colony
should be sufficient to support the colony, and the variable g-force levels are
a distinct boon. However, the gravitational aberrations caused by Coriolis
forces will be at the least mildly irritating, and balancing the colony may
require much more integration of the different zones (recreational,
residential, industrial, et cetera.) than would be preferred. Also,
circulation of air and water may prove difficult to maintain, especially since
mistakes will be extremely costly in this environment.
While air and water should be fairly easy to purify and recycle, using the
"food vats" and activated-carbon filters mentioned above, there is always a
risk of contamination. Much of this could be defended against through
air-locks and frequent analysis of purity, but should a problem develop it may
be difficult to track down from where it originated. Perhaps different parts
of the ship could be fed by entirely separate systems of circulation and
purification, giving at least marginal protection from contaminants.
Food poses a special problem. According to NASA studies, morale on a space
colony bears some correlation with the variety of food served there. In this,
variety basically amounts to: "Would you like your algae raw, fried,
sautéed, or steamed?" Flavorings would help, so would small plots of
land devoted to more mundane agriculture. Even this problem, though, pales by
a comparison to one other -- Chlorella pyrenoidosa is digested only with
difficulty in the human digestive tract. The simplest solution would be to
find a similarly hardy algae, or to find a way of processing the algae so that
it would be easier to digest. Should this fail, another possible route would
be to genetically engineer more palatable algae or a bacterial assistant to
digestion, discussed in the Alternative Possibilities section.
Our main defense against other disasters, such as fires and systems
malfunctions, is dependent upon the control systems. The would be manned 24
hours a day to check for anomalies, and all computer systems would be
double-verified, double-staffed, and could be manually overridden by workers at
any one time.
There are other, more superficial difficulties as well. For example,
transportation is a problem when we consider the Coriolis forces at work -- a
light-rail traveling at half the speed of rotation, for example, would reduce
or enhance the force of gravity by a factor of 4, depending on its direction.
Likewise, communications with Earth are jeopardized by everything from stellar
interference to cosmic dust, but would be protected by the nature of the beam
(a receptor for a tight beam laser could filter by frequency and direction to
error-correct communications).
Another problem is with the boiler method of heat removal. This method would
be a constant release of water, and water is a precious commodity in space.
While it could be replenished from the moon, or perhaps the other debris in the
Lagrange points, it would be extremely inconvenient.
The very balancing of the colony in a Lagrange point is an unknown. It will
either be extremely easy, in which case we need to worry about collecting
debris, or extremely difficult, in which case we may need to fit the colony
with thrusters in order to keep it centered in the Lagrange area. The points
are normally fairly large, but any disturbance would grow geometrically, it may
be difficult to correct any aberrations that appear.
The final concerns are either theoretical or unavoidable. Included as one of
the theoretical problems is the social structure the community will take. Life
on the colony will be distinctly different from the on Earth, and without much
more focused research on this still hypothetical situation, it will be
impossible to design any sort of fool-proof utopia.
The unavoidable problem is money. No matter what, the investment required to
create this colony will be tremendous, and the returns at best unpredictable.
The cost of a shuttle between the colony and Earth is almost unbearable, and
while high-quality and perhaps unique equipment could be made on this colony,
its cost would be ludicrously inflated by the distances of transportation. We
cannot hope, yet, to make a profit on this endeavor. At best, we are paying
for knowledge, and investing in our future as a race.
The Light Sail
Mentioned as a possible way of transporting the asteroid between its place in
the Apollo group to Earth, and later to the Lagrange point. A light sail is a
very thin sheet of durable fabric, anchored to the object to be moved an
arrayed in a parachute- or clipper- ship like fashion. The sail would be
propelled by the steady stream of particles in the solar wind, and could pull
the asteroid for great distances with no expenditure of thrust. Unfortunately,
all designs considered so far appear extremely fragile.
The Case for the Zero-G Colony
Traditional space stations have been designed based on the premise that humans
would eventually be returning to Earth. For this reason, there has not been a
real expenditure of effort to design a long term zero-g colony. Astronauts on
Skylab, for example, exercised regularly to simulate a gravitational
environment, and keep them in shape for the return home.
If humans are to truly adapt to space, we may find it more practical to adapt
to micro gravity instead of trying to maintain an illusion of Earth-like
conditions. This policy would allow much more effective use of space and
revolutions in colony design. For example, corridors no longer need lay flat,
and elevators are no longer at all necessary. Instead of relying on wall
terminals, the entirety of the wall, ceiling, and floor could be used as
display space. New varieties of plant could be bred for micro gravity
environments, and they could by hydroponically watered and fertilized.
We could stop worrying about the size of colonies, or unpleasant side effect
of rotation for artificial gravity. Instead of building in a shell around the
perimeter of the station, we could build throughout it's entirety. We don't
even need to START with a micro gravity environment to take advantage of this
-- the colony describe in this report could easily be slowed down, gradually,
to a micro gravity environment.
Our efficiency would increase, our comfort in space would increase, and we
would truly adapt to the life of a spacefaring people. But we'll admit that
we're not certain anyone will be sold on this concept, so...
...What About an Artificial-Gravity Ring?
Humans could continue to exercise in the portion of the shuttle that was
rotated, and plants and processes that are ill-suited to micro gravity (such as
the mechanics of a nuclear reactor) could be run out of this area. This would
preserve humanity's Earth-legs, as it were, while still allowing the efficiency
of a zero-gravity environment.
The difficulty now becomes human adaptation to this kind of "amphibian"
gravity, where daily switches have to be made between micro gravity and 0.5 to
1 g environments. This kind of switching is hard on the human mind, causing
disorientation, nausea, intense vertigo, and motion sickness.
While not as efficient, in our opinions, as either the artificial gravity or
micro gravity environments, this is a kind of middle ground that may prove
useful for future attempts at colony design.
Chemiluminescent Radiation and Waste Heat
One of the most frustrating things about a colony is the radiation of heat.
Contrary to popular belief, space isn't this deep cold -- it's an insulator,
and an extremely effective one. In order to cool off, we need to eject some of
our more energetic mass. If we don't do this, we risk heating up due to waste
heat until the environment is impossible to survive in.
The current plan it to cool off the complex with water, and then use pressure
gates and diffusion rates to sort out the most energetic particles, and then
boil them off for heat loss. However, there's another, much more user-friendly
method -- if it works.
By concentrating the waste heat in conjunction (where necessary) with
catalysts, we should be able to construct endothermic chemical compounds that
release their energy in heat when they break down. Using the same principal as
the one behind a glow-stick or chemical torch, we could convert the heat energy
into light and radiate it into space. This would conserve water, and still
protect us from a gradual heat death of the colony.
Genetic Engineering and the Chlorella pyrenoidosa Algae
Perhaps one of the most mundane ideas mentioned herein is the use of genetic
engineering to help sort through the problem of Chlorella's hardiness in the
digestive tract. The simplest solution would be to engineer Chlorella to have
a simpler chemical structure, just as they currently engineer it to be either
protein-rich or fat-rich. However, this could have the side effect of
decreasing its hardiness in space, the reason why it was selected as the
primary foodstuff on board the shuttle.
Perhaps a safer way of handling this would be to engineer a bacteria for our
own digestive tracts. After the first few months of each of our lives, we are
exposed to symbiotic bacteria that help us break down food in return for the
energy and security our bodies can yield. It does not seem far fetched that a
bacteria could be found or designed to help us digest Chlorella.
Direct Lighting of Chlorella pyrenoidosa Algae
One of the odder ideas we came up with while working on this project was
horrifically impractical, yet strangely compelling. Instead of going to all
the trouble of creating artificial light and hiding from the sun behind meters
upon meters of opaque rock, why not simply wall one side of the asteroid with
glass and place all the food and plant life we need behind that?
The purpose of the rock wall between the sun and the colony is, of course, to
protect us from solar radiation. However, the meters and meters of glass will
do this just as effectively as the meters of stone, and we would have the added
benefit of saving energy and producing a perfect kind of light for
photosynthesis. In much the same manner that modern lenses are made to be
transparent to specific ranges of light, we could design a glass transparent
mostly to the shades of light absorbed in photosynthesis. This would
effectively use the resources at our disposal, provide natural and intense
lighting for plant life, and... well, it just seems neat.
There are a series of prohibitions against this, however. Most critically,
the cost of this glass would be phenomenal. Directly after that in importance,
the installation of this glass wall would be nightmarishly complicated.
However, it is certainly a compelling thought.
Solar Power
The final alternative we have to suggest, although it is not exactly a new
concept to this field, is the use of solar power. While not as efficient as
nuclear power, nor as easily controllable, it has no waste, little risk of
accident, and requires no fuel and thus no dependence on a fuel source.
The negatives to solar power, however, are distressing. Most solar cells are
expensive, delicate, and inefficient at high temperatures. In an environment
where a piece of dust can leave a crater, they would be extremely hard to
maintain. Also, either the same solar cells face the sun constantly, becoming
hot and thus inefficient, or there is a rotation of cells and not all cells are
in use at a given time -- also inefficient.
Should there be any improvement to the technology behind solar power, they
would be an important option in the creation of a space colony. For the time
being, however, they do not appear to be the best resource at our disposal.
Several areas could use further research. Before the specific details of this
colony could be addressed, there are certain pieces of information that still
need to be attained. The following is a list of that missing research.
First: At what rate is CO2 exchanged for O2 by Chlorella? What alternative
species of algae might be more applicable to space use, and more easily
digested by humans? Would mats of algae growing on cloth slats be more
effective a medium for their growth, or perhaps shallow tanks filled with
carbonated, fertilized water?
Second: What nutrients is Chlorella unable to provide? The human body needs
upwards of 30 chemicals and chemical compounds in order to survive, and a
deficiency of any of these (even micronutrients such as zinc) can lead to
painful and even deadly symptoms. What other plants, perhaps non-standard to
the modern world, might be able to provide these nutrients in a space
environment?
Third: Are there any alternatives to chemiluminescence and boiling off water
as a means of keeping heat under control? Could this waste heat energy be
recycled and concentrated, somehow?
Fourth: Are there practical ways of running a nuclear reactor in microgravity
environments?
Fifth: What specific personnel would be needed to run this station, and how
much space will we need to devote to each section? What possible social
problems can we expect and try to diffuse?
Sixth: What are the concrete advantages of industry in space? Would modern
corporations support a venture of this sort by sending employees along on the
voyage?
Seventh: How stable are the Lagrangian points, and how much debris are
collected there? Does any of it have raw material potential? What will the
cost of processing and transport be?
Eight: How can we get the asteroid rotating with minimal stresses to the
asteroid and minimal costs?
Nine: How much will this actually cost, and in what ways could it be
simplified or cheapened?
1) Peter Smolders. Living in space Pub. 1986 by Airlife Pub.
2) Patrick Moore. Mission to the Planets Pub. 1990 by W.W. Norton and Co.
3) Time Life Books. Spacefarers Pub. 1989 by Time Life Books
4) G. Harry Stine. Handbook for Space Colonists Pub. 1985 by Holt, Rhinehart,
and Winston
5) Time Life Books. How Things Work in Space Pub. 1991 by Time Life Books
6) Brian O'Leary. Project Space Station Pub. 1983 by Stackpole Books
Introduction
Review of Literature
Glossary
The Plan
Conclusion
Alternative Possibilities
Further Research
Bibliography
Curators:
Al Globus and
Bryan Yager
NASA Responsible Official:
Dr. Ruth Globus
Last Updated: July 10, 2002
If you find any errors on this page contact Al Globus.
