If humans are to colonize space, we will need large, human-rated structures to live in. It makes no sense to build an entire orbiting colony out of tin cans launched from Earth. Let's discuss some ideas for in-space construction to pave the way for human colonization of space!
Responses
Co-Founder, Space Cooperative
Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312
and James S.A. Corey's The Expanse
series both feature asteroids that are hollowed-out and spun-up to create habitats/spacecraft with artificial gravity. Seems like an efficient way to use mined-out asteroids.
I'm a fan of this style with one big caveat: all the loose material at the surface would just fly away at best, and at worst it may fracture under the stress.
Curious which will come first: asteroid mining or a lunar industrial base.
Technical Architect
The Expanse did trigger my imagination with regards to building in space. Elon is drilling tunnels under LA. Is he planning that as part of his Mars missions? If that can be pulled off, it could eliminate alot of the prefabrication that has to be done to create a livable space that will also shield inhabitants from the environment outside.
All that pulverized rock could also be reused for some type of purpose, either cement or maybe even to augment soil if it has the right mineral composition.
Software Development/Government Design
What if you could burrow under the ground in a way that didn't require a lot of support structures and then used a medium sized 3D printer to print out medium sized modular components that could be connected together to construct walls and ceilings that cover the rough tunnnel surface and ensure that the structure is airtight?
Space Architect
I'm not sure there are advantages to hollowing out asteroids to live in them! The amount of infrastructure work to be done would be huge (digging, shaping, pressure sealing, structuring, outfitting, running utilities...) why not do all that on an orbiting facility instead? The resulting station will be very functionally similar, with the added advantages of being able to move it, park it close to an asteroid, and mine it! I'm thinking of a way to use asteroid material (or regolith) compacted and packed into bags that could then be placed around the body of the station for radiation protection.
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
The intention is not to hollow out the asteroids in orde to live in them. Rather, it is to make use of the tunnels created from mining the asteroid. I suspect that this would be a temporary measure to provide increased habitation space for the workers conducting mining operations. Ideally, the entire asteroid will eventually be mined, making use of ALL the material resources. However, before the asteroid is completely mined, you might as well make use of the natural resource in order to make living there that much more comfortable.
Space Architect
Ok, viewing from this angle it does make a lot of sense! The challenge now is how to make an asteroid tunnel become habitable space?
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
This is not very difficult. All you really need to do is line the tunnel walls with a gas-impermeable layer (this could be as little as a few layers of plastic or synthetic rubber... similar to the shrink-wrap
material used to seal windows for improved isolation). Some ofthe mined material itself could be manufactured into bricks
to reinforce the tunnel walls, if necessary.
Space Architect
I agree, I think space mining will basically drive the space economy and human expansion! As happened throughout human history, the search for new, unexplored sources of riches will send pioneers as far as technologically feasible. With that, industrial colonies will be founded, establishing permanenttrade routes, which in turn incentivizes new waves of settlers in search of new opportunities. I just hope to live long enough to see that!
Technical Architect
I posted in another thread on this topic before seeing this post! Here's what I wrote on the topic.
I believe all the components are now available to create a space manufactory. The challenge becomes merging the components together to create a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Core technical components:
- Low-cost launch vehicle
- 3D-printers
- Drones and robotics
- Power to sustain operations
- Steady flow of raw materials
- Reusable, commodity building block designs
The overall theory here is to "seed" the initial platform, which builds a beachhead in space. The initial infrastructure serves to build even bigger infrastructure.
The idea here is to lower costs and risks by using off the shelf components and eventually building economies of scale. Big bang launches can be extremely expensive , risky, and time consuming.
Ideally, a fully operational space could be built before a human ever steps foot inside of the manufactory.
Overall, once the equipment is up and running, only raw materials are then being shipped up to the manufactory. Very long term, the materials will be sourced from asteroids and space, relieving the effort of having to build launch vehicles fighting against trying to escape the atmosphere.
See Von Neumann probes for an overall vision and its variants:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_spacecraft
As the mission description notes, garage tech can complement the existing platforms by reducing costs. Obviously there is also alot of regulatory work that needs to be done to make sure these platforms can be achieved.
Some resources for further diligence:
- Rockoon small payload launches: https://www.leoaerospace.com/
- 3D printing: https://www.carbon3d.com/
Space Architect
Yes, if we could build a first shipyard
in space it would highly increase the capabilities of manufacturing and launching larger and better spacecrafts, not limited by payload fairing dimensions and lift capacity. A great challenge is the ability to process and use these materials in the micro-G, vaccuum condition of space. How could we get past this?
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
A shipyard in space is a good start. However, just as important, IMOH, is the establishment of off-planet (off Earth) mining resources, and processing. Shipping materials from lunar surface to low EARTH orbit requires no more energy than shipping from Earth surface to LEO. Shipping from LS to higher orbits require far fewer resources. Our objective should be an early push to establish a permanent lunar operation... although this would be paid for by Earth orbit operations, through bootstrapping
.
Space Architect
By the way, this is wild, I love it! Great topic for a sci-fi book.
[ self-replicating machines launched by different species might actually compete with one another (in a Darwinistic fashion) for raw material, or even have conflicting missions. Given enough variety of species
they might even form a type of ecology, or – should they also have a form of artificial intelligence – a society. They may even mutate with untold thousands of generations
.]
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
One means of reducing launch costs is by converting the launch vehicle itself into payload. Skylab has proven that propellant pressure hulls can easily be converted into pressurised habitats. Clusters of thrusters, and associated thrust assembly structures, could either be staged (dropped when no longer necessary) for later reuse, or they (the ones appropriately rated for vacuum use) could be repurposed for space travel. The fairings could be designed for reentry, as reusable vehicles; and the intertank structures could be used as support walls to shore up mining shafts.
This is a project I have actually been developing for some time, now.
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
I would point out that the seeding
principal here actually makes a fairly strong argument for modular design. The modules (which can be constructed on Earth OR on the moon (or elsewhere), would be able to go into immediate service, supprting the infrastructural needs of further development. of course, there is no reason why ALL construction would have to be modular, but modular construction allows for a strong start.
Technical Architect
Elon Musk's Tweet today:
High altitude wind shear data shows a probable 2% load exceedance. Small, but better to be paranoid. Postponing launch to tomorrow, assuming winds are better then.
Seems like getting vehicles built outside of the atmosphere is a mandatory step for any large-scale buildout !
L5 The First City in Space is a Kennedy Space Center IMAX movie showcasing life aboard a gigantic rotating spacestation.
Babylon 5 was a TV series that also depicted life ,albeit action packed, existing aboard an enormous hollow space habitat.
I agree with Suzana on this.
Our next most immediate concern is to nurture hope in humanity through enthusiastic possibility.
And the best way to do that is to build momentum through audience interest.
And fewer things exist in all of creation to excite the heart through the mind's imagination than that of the thought of somehow being able to build impossibly great huge gynormous orbiting space complexes habitats cities even metropolitans environments and actually whole (including exo zeno ?) interior planetary ecosystems.
In other words: great space flying super mega structures!
Something that people can invest in. Something we can explore grow research and develop build on in.
So I propose that we first & foremost ,before anything else, create a video film like L5 The First Spacecity of what it would be like to live work research science engineer develop and especially play and work around in such a ,multisized (for different gravities) cylinders, spaceisland .
Babylon 6 anyone ?
And to develop a game ,actually really just a simple sim, of its (including giant florescent mushrooms?) interiors to go along with the video.
This way people can get some idea fore-th a feel for the total jumping awesomeness of what its like to be able to bound around in a fifth of one Earth 'G'.
WOO HA !
P.S.
Scratch the idea about making the video and the Sim as two separate experiences.
Instead, make it a ,personed, tour video of the 360°(including VR?) station Sim environment.
have it with limited functionality ,user interactiveness, for simplicity.
In other words just have it as a multimedia like video but with a bit of interactiveness thrown in for imagination stimulation possibility.
I guess what I'm trying to say is previsualize it as another (upgraded?) L5 like spacecity showcase film.
But instead of having an asteroid collision emergency as a plot instead, have merely a guest walkingtour of science engineering research development projects going on at the station. Like the kind of visitors tours that various kinds of technology centres (including NASA) provide to families to the public.
Concepts Development, Organisation, Operations Specialist
I don't know much about sims, and am not great at processing video... but I could probably put together a Babylon 6
design for you! I have a fairly good idea about how it could be constructed.
Software Development/Government Design
What if a Mars crew had a temporary inflatable structure and a burrowing machine? They could inflate the structure when they first arrive for a simple habitat and then when the ground was burrowed out they could deflate the structure and lower it into the burrow where it would act as an airtight liner. Then modules could be printed out with a medium sized 3D printer for covering the ceiling, floor, and walls. Two layer skylight style windows could be made looking out through the surface. The windows could be filled with gas that blocks cosmic rays.