OurSolarSystem,Our

Galaxy,thentheUniverse
AlGlobus,April2012
OrbitalSpaceSettlements
Whenthinkingaboutspacesettlement,mostpeoplethinkintermsofcitiesontheMoonor
Mars.However,inthe1970sPrincetonphysicistGerardK.ONeillcameupwithavery
interestingalternative:citiesinfreespace,inorbitaroundtheEarthorotherbodies.These
kilometerscalespacecrafthaveanumberofadvantagesrelativetosettlementsontheMoon
orMars.TheseadvantagesincludeartificialgravitysimilartotheEarth,continuoussolar
energy,easieraccesstoEarthforsuppliesandmarkets,largersizes,andweightless
recreation.Theprimarydisadvantageoforbitalsettlementscomparedtothoseonthe
MoonorMarsisaccesstomaterials.Dr.ONeillresolvedthisissuewithasystemtodeliver
lunarmaterialstocarefullychosennearMoonorbitswhereheproposedthefirst
settlementsshouldreside.WiththesubsequentdiscoveryofNearEarthObjects(NEO),
asteroidsandcometsinorbitscrossingEarths,theorbitalspacesettlementmaterials
problemiselegantlysolvedbysimplycoorbitingwithaNEO;anditturnsoutthatorbital
settlementsbuiltfromsmallbodymaterialshasradicalimplicationsforthefutureof
humanity.

NEOs
WiththediscoveryofhundredsoflargeNEOs,theobviousplacetobuildorbitalsettlements
isclosetoNEOsthatsupplythematerials.Itmayevenbepossibletobringlargenumbers
ofsmallNEOsintoHighEarthOrbit(HEO)sothatearlysettlementscanbenearEarthfor
resupplyandtoprovideamarketforgoodsproducedonsettlements.
Thesmallestspacesettlementthatmakessenseforpermanenthabitationmaybearound
thesizeofthe5,000person,1.57x0.65kmlivingareaKalpanaOnedesign1.Although
largersettlementscanbebuilt,wewillusethisdesignasourunitofmeasurement.The
massofanyspacesettlementisdominatedbyradiationshielding,whichrequiresabout10
tons/m2tomimictheprotectionofEarthsatmosphere.Assumingthislevelofshielding,
eachKalpanaOnehasamassofabouttenmilliontons.ConservativelyassumingaNEO
densityoftwotons/m3,a150mcubicNEOwillcontainsufficientmaterialsforone
settlement.Asmostofthesematerialsareforradiationshielding,anymaterialswilldo.
ManyNEOshavelargequantitiesofmetals,water,carbon,andnitrogenforstructureand

1TheKalpanaOneOrbitalSpaceSettlementRevised,AlGlobus,NitinArora,Ankur
Bajoria,andJoeStrout,April2007,
http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/2007KalpanaOne.pdf

lifesupport,soalargefractionofNEOsofthissizeorgreaterareapotentialtargetfor
settlement.EstimatesofthenumberofNEOs100mdiameterorgreaterrunaround22,500
althoughthenumberof150mobjectsissomewhatless2.Asmanyoftheseobjectsarebig
enoughtosupplymaterialsformanyKalpanaOnesizedsettlements,itisnotunreasonable
toexpectthatperhaps50,000spacesettlementscanbedevelopednearNEOs,withatotal
populationof250millionormore.Thatsjustthestart.

AsteroidBelt
MostasteroidsarenotinNearEarthOrbits.TheyareintheasteroidbeltbetweenMarsand
Jupiterwhichcontainsroughly1.7millionasteroidsonekmorgreateracross.Aseachof
thesehassufficientmaterialsforaround200KalpanaOnesizedsettlementsormore,atotal
ofover400millionsettlementsmightbebuiltwithatotalpopulationofperhapstwo
trillion.
Atthisdistancefromthesun,solarenergyisstillapracticalsource.Thesolararraysmust
bemuchbiggerthanthoseusednearEarth,butthesizeisstillmanageable,particularlyfor
anadvancedspacefaringsocietymanycenturiesorevenafewmillenniafromnow.

SmallObjectsfromJupitertoNeptune
AsLifepushesoutbeyondtheasteroidbelt,thereareanumberofsmallobjectssuitablefor
supplyingmaterialsfororbitalspacesettlements.Thesearereferredtobyvariousnames
dependingonwheretheyareandwhatwebelievetheirhistorytobe.Thesenamesinclude
theCentaurs,theJupiterFamilyofComets,andtheTrojanAsteroidsofJupiterandNeptune.
AswemoveoutwardfromtheSuntheobjectshavelessandlessrockandmetalandmore
volatiles:water,methaneandammonia.Thus,itwillbelessfeasibletobuildsettlements
outofmetal.Fortunately,methanecontainscarbonandcarbonisanexcellentstructural
material.Today,highperformancecars,bicycles,aircraftandevenspacecraftare
increasinglybuiltoutofcarbonbasedmaterials.
However,aswemovefurtherfromtheSunthesolarfluxbecomeslessandlessusefulfor
energyproduction.AtNeptunesorbitsolararraysmustberoughly900timeslargerthan
inEarthorbittogeneratethesameamountofenergy.Thus,itwouldbebesttofindanother
sourceofenergy.Oneapproachistominehydrogenandheliumfromtheatmospheresof
thegiantplanetsandTitan,separatetheisotopesandusetheminfusionreactors3.Thisis
beyondtodaystechnologybutthebasicphysicsareunderstood.

2NEOWISEObservationsofNearEarthObjects:PreliminaryResults,A.Mainzer,etal.,
AcceptedtoAPJ,http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6400
3ThisideaisexploredinsomedetailinChapterEight:SettlingtheOuterSolarSystemof
RobertZubrinsEnteringSpace:CreatingaSpacefaringCivilization,Putnam,1999.

TheOuterSolarSystem

Beyondthelasttrueplanet,Neptune,stretchesavastregionpopulatedbyicybodies.Parts
ofthisarereferredtoastheKuiperbelt,ScatteredObjects,andtheOortCloud.Thefurthest
portion,theOortCloud,mayreachhalfwaytotheneareststar,ProximaCentauri,about4.2
lightyearsfromEarth.
Whiletheyarewidelyspreadout,thematerialresourcesofthisregionarevast.TheOort
Cloudisbelievedtocontainuptoseveraltrillionobjectsonekmacrossorbigger.These
objectsareverylightweight,butevenassumingoneobjectperspacesettlementwegeta
trillionormoreKalpanaOnesizedsettlementswithatotalpopulationofoverfive
quadrillion.
Iftheseobjectscanbesettled,thenEarthwillatlonglastbefreedfromanypossibilityofa
devastatingcollision.Allthelargeasteroidswillhavelongsincebeenconsumedoratleast
shadowedbyhumansettlements,insuringthatthesewillnotstrikeEarth.Settlementofthe
vastreachesoftheoutersolarsystemwillbringunderobservationthesourceofthe
comets,thelastreservoirofobjectsthreateningLifesbirthplace.
Thereisahugecatch,though.WedontknowhowtogenerateenergysofarfromtheSun
andtherearenovastsuppliesofhydrogenorhelium.Solararraysarenexttouseless,
continentsizearrayswillonlyproducemodestpower.Itmaybepossibletoshiphydrogen
andheliumfromthegasgiants,butthedistancesareimmensemakingthisoptionapoor
one.Fortunately,wewillhavemanymillenniatodevelopthephysicsandengineering
necessary.Giventheadvancesofthepastfewcenturies,itiscertainlyplausibletobelieve
thatwewillfindawayinthethousandsofyearsitwilltaketosettlethesmallbodiesoutto
Neptune.
IfwedofindasolutiontotheenergyproblemtosettlebeyondNeptune,rememberthat
theseobjectsmayextendhalfwaytotheneareststar.IfProximaCentaurihasasimilar
cloud,thenthereisanunbrokenstringofsmallbodiesfromheretotheneareststar.
Insteadofslowlyexpanding,settlementbysettlement,outawayfromSol,wewillbegin
slowlyexpanding,settlementbysettlement,intowardsProximaCentuari.Assumingthat
ProximaCentaurihasasteroidsandcometscirclingitasdoesSol,insteadofeachnew
settlementstepbeingharder,withbodiesmorespreadoutandenergyeverscarcer,
expansionwillbecomeeasiersincebodiesareclosertogetherasweapproachthestar.
Closein,ofcourse,therewillbeampleenergysuppliesinfreespaceallaroundus.
Thus,wecangettotheneareststarnotbysomeheroicjourneybydedicatedadventurers,
butbysimplylivinginthecomfortoforbitalsettlementsweveinhabitedforhundredsof
generations.Onourtriptotheneareststarwewilltakefriends,family,andneighborsour
wholecommunity.Spacesettlementsbythistimewillbevast,tensorevenhundredsof
kilometersacross,thesizeoflargecitiestoday.Also,onemightexpectgroupsof
settlementstotraveltogetherforsafetyandvariety.Wewillalsotaketheplants,animals,

andotherorganismsneededforsurvivalordelight.Indeed,itwillnotjustbeajourneyfor
humanity,butforLifeitself.

TheMilkyWay
WeliveontheedgeoftheMilkyWaygalaxy.Ourgalaxyhas200400billionstarsspread
outacross100,000120,000lightyears.Weareontheedge,wherestarsarefarapart.Ifwe
cangetfromheretothenearestone,thenwecanstarhopthroughouttheentiregalaxy.As
weapproachthecenter,settlementbecomeseasierasthestarsareclosertogether.We
dontneedstarswithplanets,juststarswithjunkaroundthem,thesmallbodieswe,by
then,willhavesubsistedonforperhapsamillionyears.Nearstarswecanusetheirenergy,
andaswepasstothenextwecanusetheenergytechnologydevelopedforsettlingthe
outersolarsystem.
Wewillnotneedhighspeedtravelbecausewewillbelivingoffsmallbodiesateverystep.
Evenat0.01%ofthespeedoflightwecansettlethegalaxyinabout100millionyears.
Whilethisisforevertous,itislittleinthehistoryoftheuniverse,orevenEarth.Bythis
time,therewillbeatleastonelivinggalaxy,ours.Thencomesthehardpart.

TheNextGalaxy
Whilethedistancesbetweenstarsarevast,lightyears,theypalecomparedtothedistance
betweengalaxies,whicharetypicallyaroundonemillionlightyears.However,whilewe
haveneverobservedthem,itisreasonabletoexpectthat,likethespacebetweenstars,
therearesmallbodies,perhapsevenentirestarsystems,inthesespaces.Canwedevelop
thetechnologytosendthefirstorbitalspacesettlementacrossthevastvoidbetweenour
galaxyandthenext?Onlytimewilltell,but100millionyearsisalongtime.Modern
sciencehasonlyexistedforafewcenturiesinthehandsofafewbillionpeople,andlook
whatwehaveaccomplished.Whatcouldwedoin100millionyearswithapopulation
measuredinquadrillionsaroundeachofhundredsofbillionsofstars?Heresone
possibility.
ScientistsattheHarvardSmithsonianCenterforAstrophysicsrecentlydiscoveredthat
galacticblackholescanejectstarsfromthegalaxyatuptofourorfivepercentoflight
speed4.Furthermore,planetsandotherbodiesorbitingthestarcan,undertheright
circumstances,stayboundtothestar.Ifthedirectionofthisejectioncouldbecontrolled,
perhapsbyagravitytractor5,thenwecouldusetheMilkyWaysblackholetosendstars,
completewithorbitalspacesettlements,tothenextgalaxyinaabouttwentymillionyears.

4http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0323/Runawayplanetsejectedfromgalaxy
atinsanespeeds
5GravitytractorshavebeenproposedformovingdangerousNEOs.Theideaistoflyalarge
massinformationwiththeNEOandusethegravitationalattractionofthemasstonudge
theNEOintoaslightlydifferentorbit.Forstarsapproachingablackhole,anextremely
advancedversionofthistechniquecouldmanipulatethestarstrajectorywithoutphysical
contact.

Theenergyresourcesofastarcaneasilysupportacivilizationforthislongandwith
reasonablycarefuluseofasteroidalandplanetarymaterialsagroupoforbitalspace
settlementswithapopulationofmillionscouldmakeit,livingincomfortandstylethe
wholeway.
Staytuned.

EditingassistancebyDavidBrandtErichsen