Space colonization

[citation needed] Moriba Jah has criticized existing approaches to orbital space as colonialist, such as for satellites, on the grounds that it involves claiming ownership instead of collaborative stewardship.

In the first half of the 17th century John Wilkins suggested in A Discourse Concerning a New Planet that future adventurers like Francis Drake and Christopher Columbus might reach the Moon and allow people to live there.

[38] One of the first to speak about space colonization was Cecil Rhodes who in 1902 spoke about "these stars that you see overhead at night, these vast worlds which we can never reach", adding "I would annex the planets if I could; I often think of that.

[57] It is argued that due to Earth's finitude as well as the limited duration of the Solar System, mankind's survival into the far future will very likely require extensive space colonization.

[41] Others including cosmologist Carl Sagan and science fiction writers Arthur C. Clarke,[79] and Isaac Asimov,[80] have argued that shipping any excess population into space is not a viable solution to human overpopulation.

Advocates for space colonization cite a presumed innate human drive to explore and discover, and call it a quality at the core of progress and thriving civilizations.

[82][83] 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 time (possibly billions of years), which would produce an enormous amount of utility (or happiness).

The issues of human dignity, morality, philosophy, culture, bioethics, and the threat of megalomaniac leaders in these new "societies" would all have to be addressed in order for space colonization to meet the psychological and social needs of people living in isolated colonies.

[47] Agencies conducting interplanetary missions are guided by COSPAR's planetary protection policies, to have at most 300,000 spores on the exterior of the craft—and more thoroughly sterilized if they contact "special regions" containing water, or it could contaminate life-detection experiments or the planet itself.

Scholars like Phil Torres and Daniel Deudney argue that expansion into space could escalate perpetual conflict, insecurity, and even increase risks of human extinction.

Space colonization altogether might eventually demand lifting vast amounts of payload into orbit, making thousands of daily launches potentially unsustainable.

[138] There are only a few materials on the Moon which have been identified to make economic sense to ship directly back to the Earth, which are helium-3 (for fusion power) and rare-earth minerals (for electronics).

The European Space Agency (ESA) head Jan Woerner at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany, in October, 2018 proposed cooperation among countries and companies on lunar capabilities, a concept referred to as Moon Village.

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has been identified as to bolster China's political influence and enhance its bid for superpower status, and the United States seeking to maintain its position as the leading space power.

[146] Mars is more suitable for habitation than the Moon, with a stronger gravity, rich amount of materials needed for life, day/night cycle nearly identical to Earth, and a thin atmosphere to protect from micrometeroids.

[134]: 175  Without in situ resource utlization, Mars colonization would be nearly impossible as it would require bringing thousands of tons of payload to sustain a handful of astronauts.

However, Mercury is the most energy-consuming body on the Solar System to land for spacecraft launching from Earth, and astronauts there must contend with the extreme temperature differential and radiation.

Vast solar collectors could also be built on or near Mercury to produce power for large-scale engineering activities such as laser-pushed light sails to nearby star systems.

[134]: 308–310 Asteroids can provide enough material in the form of water, air, fuel, metal, soil, and nutrients to support ten to a hundred trillion humans in space.

[134]: 203, 204, 218 There have also been proposals to place robotic aerostats in the upper atmospheres of the Solar System's giant planets for exploration and possibly mining of helium-3, which could have a very high value per unit mass as a thermonuclear fuel.

[156] If technology advanced to the point that tapping such geothermal energy was possible, it could make colonizing a cryogenic world like Triton feasible, supplemented by nuclear fusion power.

[161][162] Robert Zubrin has suggested Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune as advantageous locations for colonization because their atmospheres are good sources of fusion fuels, such as deuterium and helium-3.

Saturn's largest moon Titan is one of several candidates for possible future colonization of the outer Solar System, though protection against extreme cold is a major consideration.

If humanity would gain access to a large amount of energy, on the order of the mass-energy of entire planets, it may become possible to construct spaceships with Alcubierre drives.

As is true of other frontier-opening endeavors, the capital investment necessary for space colonization would probably come from governments,[178] an argument made by John Hickman[179] and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

[189] Inertia would necessitate powerful thrusters to start or stop rotation, or electric motors to spin two massive portions of a vessel in opposite senses.

With a published price of US$56.5 million per launch of up to 13,150 kg (28,990 lb) payload[195] to low Earth orbit, SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets are already the "cheapest in the industry".

Underneath a drier outer crust (much like oil shale), some other NEOs are inactive comets which include billions of tons of water ice and kerogen hydrocarbons, as well as some nitrogen compounds.

[205] In the weightlessness and vacuum of space, high temperatures for industrial processes can easily be achieved in solar ovens with huge parabolic reflectors made of metallic foil with very lightweight support structures.

Flat mirrors to reflect sunlight around radiation shields into living areas (to avoid line-of-sight access for cosmic rays, or to make the Sun's image appear to move across their "sky") or onto crops are even lighter and easier to build.