Space Settlement

Al GlobusSan Jose State University

Chairman, NSS Space Settlement Advocacy Committee

"For me the single overarching goal of human space flight is the human settlement of the solar system, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible," Michael Griffin, current NASA administrator, in 2003 testimony before Congress.

Science and Engineering• Scientists answer questions.• Engineers build things.• In order to build things, it is often

necessary to answer questions.• In order to answer questions, it is

often necessary to build things.• Question: will life fill the solar

system?• Answer: build space settlements

Space Settlement• Not just a place to go work or visit

for a limited time– Not a space station (ISS, Mir)– Not exploration

• A home in space– Hundreds or thousands of residents– Many space settlements (thousands)

• A least some residents plan to spend their life there

• Some residents are raising their kids

Where: Orbit?• To raise children that can visit Earth requires 1g

– Moon 1/6g Mars 1/3g– Orbit any g, for 1g rotate at 2rpm = 250m radius

• Continuous solar energy• Large-scale construction easier in 0g• Short supply line to Earth (hours vs

days/months)• Greater growth (orbit 100+x vs. Moon/Mars 2x)• Orbital disadvantage: materials

– Millions (NOT billions) of tons from Moon/NEOs• Kalpana One weighs about 15 million tons• Under Van Allen Belt substantially reduces this

What• A space settlement is a home in

orbit, not just a place to work. • Live on the inside of air-tight,

kilometer scale, rotating spacecraft.

O’Neill Cylinder

Kalpana One

thermal rejectionbody mounted solar arrays and power rectenna

transparent end caps

250m

550mShielding inside rotating hullHull 15 cm steelPopulation 5,000

200m

Why

Growth

• Largest asteroid converted to space settlements can produce 1g living area 100-1000 times the surface area of the Earth. – Reason: 3D object to 2D shells– Easily support trillions of people. – New land

• Build it yourself• Don’t take from others

Wealth and Power• China’s Ming dynasty

– 1400-1450 ocean exploration– Pulled back, was colonized

• English 100 Year War 1337-1453– Failed military expansion in known world– Established empire overseas

• English merchant marine, 1485-1509• 1550s Irish colonization• American colonies 1600s

• 625 million x energy on Earth– Total solar energy available

• One smallish asteroid, 3554 Amun, contains $20 trillion materials.– There are tens of thousands of such

asteroids

Nice Place to Live• Great views• Low/0-g recreation

– Human powered flight– Cylindrical swimming pools– Dance, gymnastics– Sports: soccer

• Independence– Separate environment– Easy-to-control borders

• Other, for example, weather art

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/photos/sts71/mir-imax/hmg0018.jpg

How?

How (cont)• Solar energy• Asteroid and lunar materials• Apollo - we can do anything• Profitable business

– Communication, earth imaging satellites– Sub-orbital tourism: save your money!– Orbital tourism: need $1-8 billion prize– Old folks home: no wheelchairs!– Small, special groups. Religious? Prisons?– Solar power satellites– Asteroid materials for Earth

When?• A few decades should be sufficient

to build the first one• No serious effort now• Technology precursors

– Safer, cheaper launch– Extraterrestrial materials– Large scale orbital construction– Closed ecological life support systems– And much more

Who• Today: highly trained astronauts, or

– $20 million tourist trip to ISS– $200,000 sub-orbital tourist trip in a few

years

• Tomorrow: anyone who wants to go.– 100 - 10,000,000 people per colony– Ultimately, thousands or even millions of

colonies

• Sounds unrealistic?– A hundred years ago few had ever flown in

an airplane.– Today ~ 500 million person/flights per year.

How much will it cost?• If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

– How much did Bucharest cost? – We invented money

• Cheaper than war– $1 trillion/year– Millions of deaths last few decades– Massive destruction– Creation of terrorist

• Space settlement– Unknown costs, but– Much, much less than $1 trillion/year– Few deaths (a few hundred so far)

Conclusion

The settlement of the solar system could be the next great adventure for humanity. There is nothing but rock and radiation in space, no living things, no people. The solar system is waiting to be brought to life by humanity's touch.

BACKUP

2020 Tourism• Hotel• Doctors• Maids• Cooks• Recreational directors• Reservation clerks• etc.• These may be the first colonists.

Low/0-g Handicapped/Elderly

Colony• No wheelchairs needed.• No bed sores.• Easy to move body even when

weak.• Never fall and break hip.• Grandchildren will love to visit.• Need good medical facilities.

– Telemedicine

• Probably can’t return to Earth.

People Live Everywhere• Every continent, including

Antarctica• Hottest, driest deserts• Coldest, iciest regions• Wettest rain forests• On water• For short periods, in orbit• 6,000,000,000 people on Earth

Life is Everywhere• On nearly all land areas• In nearly all waters• In the rocks under the Earth• In near-boiling water• In ice• On desert rocks• On a spacecraft on the Moon

Next Target: Orbit• Your lifetime: thousands of people living

in orbit• A few centuries: most of humanity in

orbit.

• Next millenium: generation ships to the stars

Key Problem: Launch

$/kg $/me (73 kg)

Failure rate

Shuttle 22,000 1,606,000 0.5-1%

Commercial launcher

2,600-30,000 189,800 -2,190,000

6 - 33%

airline 5 365 1/2,000,000

2010 NASA goal 2,200 160,600 1/10,000

2020 NASA goal 220 16,060 1/10,000

Stanford Torus