“A space settlement” refers to a habitation in space or on a celestial body where families live on a permanent basis, and that engages in commercial activity which enables the settlement to grow over time, with the goal of becoming economically and biologically self-sustaining as a part of a larger network of space settlements.
What is a space settlement?
“A space settlement” refers to a habitation in space or on a celestial body where families live on a permanent basis, and that engages in commercial activity which enables the settlement to grow over time, with the goal of becoming economically and biologically self-sustaining as a part of a larger network of space settlements.
What is space colonization?
Space colonization (also called space settlement or extraterrestrial colonization) is the hypothetical permanent habitation and exploitation of natural resources from outside planet Earth. As such it is a form of human presence in space, beyond human spaceflight or operating space outposts.
Are there any plans to build a space colony?
There are yet no plans for building space colonies by any large-scale organization, either government or private. However, many proposals, speculations, and designs for space settlements have been made through the years, and a considerable number of space colonization advocates and groups are active.
What are the arguments for and against space colonization?
Many arguments have been made for and against space colonization. The two most common in favor of colonization are survival of human civilization and the biosphere in the event of a planetary-scale disaster (natural or man-made), and the availability of additional resources in space that could enable expansion of human society.
What is the meaning of space settlement?
Space colonization (also called space settlement or extraterrestrial colonization) is the hypothetical permanent settlement and exploitation of natural resources at celestial objects other than Earth. As such it is a form of human presence in space, beyond human spaceflight and operating space outposts.
Why is space settlement important?
Space colonies can supply clean energy necessary for human survival in the 21st century. In addition, they can provide new homelands and an expanded ecological niche for our species. For many people, the term "space colony" brings to mind visions of domed cities on the moon or the surface of a hostile planet.
How is space settlement?
What? A space settlement is a home in orbit. Rather than live on the outside of a planet, settlers will live inside of large spacecraft. Free-space settlement designs range from 100 meters to a few kilometers across.
What is space settlement essay?
Space settlement was planned by an idea of “extinction of humans” in coming years by “Garudam Lee”. So, all together we can define a space settlement as a home in space providing all needs like in earth. Just one difference will be that we are living in a home in space but not on earth.
How would humans establish space colonies?
The most common ideas for space colonization include: settling Earth's Moon, building on Mars, and constructing free-floating space stations.
How do you create an atmosphere in space settlements?
There are many ways to do this:Diverting comets and other icy objects. Comets are known to be made of dirty ice. ... Transport. Basically, we have to send a spaceship where the icy celestial body is located. ... Stealing atmosphere. ... Using local rocks.
What should be the structure of space settlement?
The structure consists of a residential torus, four quartered rings, a beaded torus, central cylinder and zero-g heavy manufacturing cylinder with the scope of expansion plans. The structure rotating at 0.95 rpm ensures different values of g at different structural components.
Can you live on another planet?
To conclude, any new human colonisation on another planet would be very difficult. The extreme weather conditions, the chemistry of the atmosphere and the vast amounts of resources needed to support human life all play into this.
What are the benefits of space colonization?
The benefits that await us as direct or incidental byproducts of space colonization could include advances in architectural design, alternative fuel production, 3D printing and low-gravity manufacturing to name but a few.
Will humans ever leave the solar system?
Climate change is altering our planet, and some have wondered if we may have to leave Earth to another distant planet. We will never escape climate change, and unfortunately, we will never leave the Solar System, and Earth may be our home forever.
What is this space?
Space is an almost perfect vacuum, nearly void of matter and with extremely low pressure. In space, sound doesn't carry because there aren't molecules close enough together to transmit sound between them.
Is there water on Mars?
It's a complex system." In March 2021, researchers reported that a considerable amount of water on ancient Mars has remained, but, for the most part, has likely been sequestered into the rocks and crust of the planet over the years.
What should be the structure of space settlement?
The structure consists of a residential torus, four quartered rings, a beaded torus, central cylinder and zero-g heavy manufacturing cylinder with the scope of expansion plans. The structure rotating at 0.95 rpm ensures different values of g at different structural components.
What is the best location for a space settlement?
The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is a particularly attractive location for orbital colonies, as ample materials are available. There have even been proposals to colonize the Oort Cloud (Schmidt and Zubrin, 1996), a vast region of icy comets extending nearly halfway to the closest star.
What would happen if we build Stanford torus?
The Stanford Torus would benefit deep space research, and act as a maintenance and construction point for satellite solar power stations. The solar power stations would provide for all the colony's energy needs, and would have the potential to supply energy to Earth as well.
How do you create gravity in a space colony?
Creating artificial gravity Fortunately, there is more than one form of acceleration — and by using centrifugal force we can generate something equivalent to gravity on Earth. One possible way of creating artificial gravity in space is by utilizing a technology called an O'Neill cylinder.
What are the challenges of space colonization?
To be sure there are many daunting challenges facing prospective space colonists such as protection from exposure to deadly radiation levels, the impact on the human body while living and working in cramped, low-gravity environments for extended periods of time and the psychological toll of isolation, confinement and separation from one’s family and society. The benefits that await us as direct or incidental byproducts of space colonization could include advances in architectural design, alternative fuel production, 3D printing and low-gravity manufacturing to name but a few. The NASA Headquarters Library has many resources to assist policymakers, scientists, teachers, students and members of the public with a passionate or passing interest in these areas.
How has the International Space Station provided us with data?
The long-term habitation of the International Space Station by rotating teams of astronauts, scientists and medical professionals has provided us with a wealth of data to establish parameters for keeping humans alive and healthy for long periods in the harsh environment of space. Here on earth there have been several ambitious projects attempting to duplicate as close as possible the conditions of off-world habitation to test the limits of human endurance.
Is a space settlement a desirable goal?
A space settlement with a shrinking population and declining standard of living is still a space settlement, but it is certainly not a desirable goal. Likewise, a space settlement might be under the control of a remote sovereign, but otherwise meet all the other criteria.
Is settlement a negative connotation?
Unfortunately, “settlement” also has some negative connotations, although to a much lesser degree than “colony.”. This has led the Beyond Earth Institute (beyondearth.org), a self-described “think tank,” to suggest a new terminology, namely “communities beyond Earth” which they define as:
Is the ISS a community?
In some sense, the crew of the ISS is a “community beyond the Earth” while it is clearer that the ISS is not a “space settlement .”. The definition of “communities beyond Earth” makes no reference to families or children.
What is space colonization?
Space colonization (also called space settlement or extraterrestrial colonization ) is the hypothetical permanent habitation and exploitation of natural resources from outside planet Earth . As such it is a form of human presence in space, beyond human spaceflight or operating space outposts . Many arguments have been made for ...
Why is space colonization important?
Nick Bostrom has argued that from a utilitarian perspective, space colonization should be a chief goal as it would enable a very large population to live for a very long period of time (possibly billions of years), which would produce an enormous amount of utility (or happiness).
How has the expansion of humans and technology affected the environment?
Expansion of humans and technological progress has usually resulted in some form of environmental devastation, and destruction of ecosystems and their accompanying wildlife. In the past, expansion has often come at the expense of displacing many indigenous peoples, the resulting treatment of these peoples ranging anywhere from encroachment to genocide. Because space has no known life, this need not be a consequence, as some space settlement advocates have pointed out. However, on some bodies of the Solar System, there is the potential for extant native lifeforms and so the negative consequences of space colonization cannot be dismissed .
What are the arguments for and against space colonization?
The two most common in favor of colonization are survival of human civilization and the biosphere in the event of a planetary-scale disaster (natural or human-made), and the availability of additional resources in space that could enable expansion of human society.
Why is space manufacturing important?
Space manufacturing could enable self-replication. Some think it's the ultimate goal because it allows an exponential increase in colonies, while eliminating costs to and dependence on Earth. It could be argued that the establishment of such a colony would be Earth's first act of self-replication. Intermediate goals include colonies that expect only information from Earth (science, engineering, entertainment) and colonies that just require periodic supply of light weight objects, such as integrated circuits, medicines, genetic material and tools.
Which moons are a target for colonization?
Moons of Saturn – Titan, Enceladus, and others. Main article: Colonization of Titan. Titan is suggested as a target for colonization, because it is the only moon in the Solar System to have a dense atmosphere and is rich in carbon-bearing compounds. Titan has water ice and large methane oceans.
Where can colonies be found?
The location of colonization can be on a physical body planet, dwarf planet, natural satellite, or asteroid or orbiting one. For colonies not on a body see also space habitat .
How does space travel?
In the counterintuitive mechanics of orbital space, objects are continually falling on a trajectory that misses the spherical ground of the planetary body below. A spacecraft that accelerates forward moves to a “higher” orbit — up, or as Fuller would have it, “out.” Firing retro rockets to decelerate, it moves “in.” But these dynamics only apply to a dimensionless point. With a large, massy, complicated object like a spacecraft, we have to deal with gravity gradients and spin motion. Areas of the ship that are farthest from the planetary center are subject to less gravitational tug, and they move faster than the center of the ship’s mass, so objects there drift outward with respect to Earth. On the side of the ship closest to Earth, objects drift inward.
What is outer space?
For centuries, the space away from the Earth’s surface — “outer” space — has confounded attempts to make sense of it with terrestrial geometric schemes. Human occupation of and movement through space on our home planet has been dominated by the horizon and the apparent flatness of the ground plane.
How does the International Space Station work?
The International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles up (or out), is designed to mitigate these tidal complexities. Gyroscopes continuously modify the station’s orientation, or “attitude,” to keep its mostly flat grid of modules parallel to Earth’s mostly flat surface, so that scientific instruments and observation windows look down (or in). Other gyros keep the station pointed forward. And as the station is slowed by the slight drag of the upper atmosphere, an engine periodically fires to keep it from falling in toward Earth.
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When was the first time all five partners were on the ISS?
ISS Expedition 20, in 2009, the first time all five partner nations were represented on the space station. [NASA]
When did Fuller write about space travel?
And for the first time they begin to feel real reality.” 3 Writing in 1970 , at the dawn of extra-planetary space travel, Fuller identified a break in humans’ spatial perception. Standing on Earth, we see the ground plane as flat, but we know the planet is a sphere.
Is the ISS in motion?
Space is a place, but to be anywhere in that place is to be in motion. Astronauts on the ISS say “on orbit” instead of “in orbit,” and they use the nautical terms forward, aft, port, and starboard. Fuller’s “in” toward Earth is deck and “out” is overhead.
Why are space colonies important?
There are a range of reasons for space habitats. Beside human spaceflight supported space exploration, space colonies is an often mentioned particular reason, which can in it be based on reasons like: 1 Survival of human civilization and the biosphere, in case of a disaster on the Earth (natural or man-made) 2 Huge resources in space for expansion of human society 3 Expansion without any ecosystems to destroy or indigenous peoples to displace 4 It could help the Earth by relieving population pressure and taking industry off-Earth.
Who first proposed space habitats?
In 1903, space pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky speculated about rotating cylindrical space habitats, with plants fed by the sun, in Beyond Planet Earth. In the 1920s John Desmond Bernal and others speculated about giant space habitats. Dandridge M. Cole in the late 1950s and 1960s speculated about hollowing out asteroids and then rotating them to use as settlements in various magazine articles and books, notably Islands In Space: The Challenge Of The Planetoids.
What happens if a space habitat is located at L4 or L5?
If a space habitat is located at L4 or L5, then its orbit will take it outside of the protection of the Earth's magnetosphere for approximately two-thirds of the time (as happens with the Moon), putting residents at risk of proton exposure from the solar wind. See Health threat from cosmic rays.
What is the atmosphere in space?
Atmosphere. Air pressure, with normal partial pressures of oxygen (21%), carbon dioxide and nitrogen (78%), is a basic requirement of any space habitat. Basically, most space habitat designs concepts envision large, thin-walled pressure vessels. The required oxygen could be obtained from lunar rock.
How much energy does space produce?
Space has an abundance of light produced from the Sun. In Earth orbit, this amounts to 1400 watts of power per square meter. This energy can be used to produce electricity from solar cells or heat engine based power stations, process ores, provide light for plants to grow and to warm space habitats.
What is a space station?
A type of space station, intended as a permanent settlement. Not to be confused with Space habitat (facility), Space station, or Space colonization. A pair of O'Neill cylinders. Interior view of an O'Neill cylinder, showing alternating land and window stripes. A space habitat (also called a space colony, space settlement, orbital habitat, ...
When did O'Neill start the Space Studies Institute?
In 1977 O'Neill founded the Space Studies Institute, which initially funded and constructed some prototypes of the new hardware needed for a space colonization effort, as well as producing a number of feasibility studies. One of the early projects, for instance, involved a series of functional prototypes of a mass driver, the essential technology for moving ores efficiently from the Moon to space colony orbits.
How big is space?
We measure long distances in space in "light-years," representing the distance it takes for light to travel in a year (roughly 5.8 trillion miles, or 9.3 trillion kilometers).
What is the radiation that travels through the cosmos?
While space may look empty to human eyes, research has shown that there are forms of radiation emanating through the cosmos. In our own solar system, the solar wind — made up of plasma and other particles from the sun — permeates past the planets and occasionally causes aurora near the Earth's poles. Cosmic rays also fly through the neighborhood, emanating from supernovas outside of the solar system.
What is the cosmic microwave background?
In fact, the universe is permeated with the cosmic microwave background, which can be understood as the leftovers of the immense explosion that formed our cosmos (usually called the Big Bang). The CMB, which is best seen in microwaves, shows the earliest radiation that our instruments can detect.
Is space a vacuum?
Further, space is a vacuum, meaning that sound cannot carry because molecules are not close enough together to transmit sound between them. That's not to say that space is empty, however. Gas, dust and other bits of matter float around "emptier" areas of the universe, while more crowded regions can host planets, stars and galaxies.
What is a human settlement?
A human settlement is an organized grouping of human habitation. Settlements can involve lots of people, like the city Andy lives in, or just a few, like the area out in the country where Jerome lives. Let's look closer at human settlements, including the types and functions of settlements. paywall_human-settlements-definition-functions.
Why are settlements important?
While pooling talents is a good thing, settlements also help people share natural resources. For example, it's more efficient to grow a lot of corn to feed many people, than to grow just a little to feed one family. It also makes more sense for people who use wood or coal to have a large amount that they can distribute across the settlement, than for them to try to get just enough for one or two people.
What are the two types of settlements in Jerome and Andy?
There are many ways to define settlements, but one way is to discuss two major types of settlements: urban and rural . Urban settlements have a lot of people. These include large cities and towns.
What are socioemotional connections?
Socioemotional connections are a big benefit to settlements. For example, even though he lives in the country and is far from his neighbors, Jerome still knows a lot of people in his town. He can meet up with them and connect at a restaurant, a person's home, or in church or temple. Lesson Summary.
What are the two types of settlements?
Two types of settlements are urban, which are densely populated, and rural, which are sparsely populated. All settlements provide some key functions for humans, including protection, pooled economies, shared natural resources, and socioemotional connections. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Is Andy a rural or urban settlement?
Andy, who lives in the big city, enjoys life in an urban settlement. Rural settlements, on the other hand, are more spaced out. Remember that Jerome lives out by himself and can't see his neighbors from his house. This is a rural settlement.
“Across The Sea of Space, The Stars Are Other suns.”
- – Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Once the exclusive province of science fiction stories and films, the subject of space colonization has rapidly moved several steps closer to becoming a reality thanks to major advances in rocket propulsion and design, astronautics and astrophysics, robotics and medicine. The urgency to es…
E-Books
- The e-books listed below are available to the general public through National Academies Press. (https://www.nap.edu) 1. The National Research Council. Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Human Space Exploration.2014
Articles and Reports
- The expert guide to space colonies – https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141002-time-to-plan-a-space-colony The future of space colonization – terraforming or space habitats? by Matt Williams, Universe Today - https://phys.org/news/2017-03-future-space-colonization-terraforming-habitats.html
Internet Resources
- NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/ National Space Society – Space Settlement: https://space.nss.org/?s=space+settlement The Mars Society: www.marssociety.org The Planetary Society: www.planetary.org
Overview
Space colonization (also called space settlement or extraterrestrial colonization) is the hypothetical permanent settlement and exploitation of natural resources at celestial objects other than Earth. As such it is a form of human presence in space, beyond human spaceflight and operating space outposts.
Many arguments have been made for and against space colonization. The tw…
Definition
The term has been used very broadly, being applied to any permanent human presence, even robotic, particularly along with the term "settlement", being imprecisely applied to any human space habitat, from research stations to self-sustaining communities in space.
The word colony and colonization are terms rooted in colonial history on Earth, making it a human geographic as well as particularly a political term. This broad use for any permanent human activ…
History
Early suggestions for future colonizers like Francis Drake and Christoph Columbus to reach the Moon and people consequently living there were made by John Wilkins in A Discourse Concerning a New Planet in the first half of the 17th century.
The first known work on space colonization was The Brick Moon, a work of fiction published in 1869 by Edward Everett Hale, about an inhabited artificial satellite. In 1897 Kurd Lasswitz also wr…
Locations
Location is a frequent point of contention between space colonization advocates. The location of colonization can be on a physical body planet, dwarf planet, natural satellite, or asteroid or orbiting one. For colonies not on a body see also space habitat.
The Moon is discussed as a target for colonization, due to its proximity to Eart…
Law and governance
Space activity is legally based on the Outer Space Treaty, the main international treaty. But space law has become a larger legal field, which includes other international agreements such as the significantly less ratified Moon Treaty and diverse national laws.
The Outer Space Treaty established the basic ramifications for space activity i…
Reasons
The primary argument calling for space colonization is the long-term survival of human civilization and terrestrial life. By developing alternative locations off Earth, the planet's species, including humans, could live on in the event of natural or human-made disasters on our own planet.
On two occasions, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking argued for space colonization as a means of saving humanity. In 2001, Hawking predicted that the human race w…
Objections
Space colonization has been seen as a relief to the problem of human overpopulation as early as 1758, and listed as one of Stephen Hawking's reasons for pursuing space exploration. Critics note, however, that a slowdown in population growth rates since the 1980s has alleviated the risk of overpopulation.
Implementation
Building colonies in space would require access to water, food, space, people, construction materials, energy, transportation, communications, life support, simulated gravity, radiation protection and capital investment. It is likely the colonies would be located near the necessary physical resources. The practice of space architecture seeks to transform spaceflight from a heroic test of human endurance to a normality within the bounds of comfortable experience. As …
Cylinders, Toruses, and Spheres
Superpowers
- In 2009, Jack Schulze of the British design studio BERG created two maps of lower Manhattan that show the landscape curving up and over the viewpoint, as if New York were inside an O’Neill Cylinder. The simultaneous visibility of near and far is exploited here for wayfinding, which the designers call a “superpower,” or “the ability to be in a city and see through it.” 11 A version of thi…
Hollow Earth
- Architectural history provides further precedents for the Summer Study. In Étienne-Louis Boullée’s unbuilt Cenotaph for Isaac Newton(1784), the architect drew a single spherical volume, which visitors entered from the bottom, on a center axis below a suspended sun lamp. The curved surface of the floor rose smoothly to form a dome 500 feet high. Daylight streamed into this cha…
Inverse Perspective
- On the convex Earth, the horizon is an unreachable asymptote; it recedes as we approach. But in practice it’s the gateway to the rest of the world, through circumnavigation. “Traveling around the world” has become a cliché metaphor for personal change and development because of the immense effort the journey requires. Famously, Ferdinand Magellan, the first person known to h…
Shells and Membranes
- At the Princeton conference organized by O’Neill shortly before the Summer Study, Ludwig Glaeser, a curator for the Museum of Modern Art, delivered a paper on “Architectural Studies for a Space Habitat.” Glaeser’s approach was to treat the shell or boundary of the habitat as a given, and to assume likewise that the human needs of inhabitants would not change. The role of archi…
Red Skies
- Around the same time that Guidice was working on the Summer Study paintings, he made a pilgrimage to visit the legendary space artist — and former architect — Chesley Bonestell. Known for strict scientific accuracy in his work, Bonestell had, in 1944, painted a view of Saturn from the moon Titan, showing a precise perspective reconstruction of the ringed planet’s size, position, a…