Colonization of trans-Neptunian objects: Difference between revisions

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{{sources|date=March 2021}}

[[Image:Kuiper oort.jpg|thumb|left|Artist's rendering of the [[Kuiper Belt]] and [[Oort Cloud]].]]

{{short description|Proposed concepts for the human colonization of trans-Neptunian objects}}

{{Space colonization}}

{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}

[[Freeman Dyson]] has proposed that [[Trans-Neptunian Objects]], rather than [[planet]]s, are the major potential habitat of life in space. Several hundred billion to trillion [[comet]]-like ice-rich bodies exist outside the orbit of [[Neptune]], in the [[Kuiper Belt]] and Inner and Outer [[Oort Cloud]]. These may contain all the ingredients for life (water ice, ammonia, and carbon-rich compounds), including significant amounts of [[deuterium]] and [[helium-3]].

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}

Since Dr Dyson's proposal, the number of Trans-Neptunian Objects known has increased greatly.

[[Image:Kuiper oort-en.jpgsvg|thumb|leftupright=1.3|right|Artist's rendering of the [[Kuiper Beltbelt]] and [[Oort Cloudcloud]].]]

Colonists could live in the [[dwarf planet]]'s icy [[Crust (geology)|crust]] or [[mantle (geology)|mantle]], using [[fusion power|fusion]] or [[geothermal]] heat and mining the soft-ice or liquid inner [[ocean]] for [[volatiles]] and [[mineral]]s. Given the light gravity and resulting lower pressure in the ice [[mantle (geology)|mantle]] or inner ocean, colonizing the rocky [[Planetary core|core]]'s outer surface might give [[colonists]] the largest number of [[mineral]] and [[volatility (chemistry)|volatile]] resources as well as insulating them from cold. Surface habitats or [[domes]] are another possibility, as [[background radiation]] levels are likely to be low.

[[Freeman Dyson]] has proposed that [[Transtrans-Neptunian Objectsobject]]s, rather than [[planet]]s, are the major potential habitat of life in space.<ref>{{cite web|title=Let's look for life in the outer solar system |first=Freeman|last=Dyson |website=ted2003 |date=February 2003 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/freeman_dyson_let_s_look_for_life_in_the_outer_solar_system?language=en |access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref> Several hundred billion to trillion [[comet]]-like ice-rich bodies exist outside the orbit of [[Neptune]], in the [[Kuiper Beltbelt]] and Inner and Outer [[Oort Cloudcloud]]. These may contain all the ingredients for life (water ice, ammonia, and carbon-rich compounds), including significant amounts of [[deuterium]] and [[helium-3]]. Since Dyson's proposal, the number of trans-Neptunian objects known has increased greatly.

Colonists of such bodies could also build [[space habitat|rotating habitats]] or live in dug-out spaces and light them with [[fusion reactor]]s for thousands to millions of years before moving on.<ref>[[Carl E. Sagan]], "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space". Random House, 1994, ISBN 0-345-37659-5.</ref> Dyson and [[Carl Sagan]] envisioned that humanity could migrate to neighbouring star systems, which have similar clouds, by using natural objects as [[Generation ship|slow interstellar vessels]] with substantial natural resources; and that such interstellar colonies could also serve as way-stations for faster, smaller interstellar ships. Alternatively Richard Terra has proposed using the materials from the Oort objects to build vast starlight collecting arrays to power habitats, thus making an Oort community essentially independent of its central star and fusion fuel supplies.<ref>Richard P. Terra, "Islands in the Sky: Human Exploration and Settlement of the Oort Cloud", in ''Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space'', Stanley Schmidt and Robert Zubrin, eds. Wiley, 1996, ISBN 0-471-13561-5</ref> Gregory Matloff has suggested that [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] intelligences have already colonized the Oort Cloud, easily avoiding observation by emulating the appearance of natural objects.<ref>Gregory Matloff, "The Re-enchantment of the Solar System", National Institute for Discovery Science, http://holtz.org/Library/Natural%20Science/Biology/Exobiology/The%20Reenchantment%20of%20the%20Solar%20System%20A%20Proposed%20Search%20for%20Local%20ET.htm</ref>

Colonists could live in the [[dwarf planet]]'s icy [[Crust (geology)|crust]] or [[mantle (geology)|mantle]], using [[fusion power|fusion]] or [[Geothermal power|geothermal]] heat{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}} and mining the soft-ice or liquid inner [[ocean]] for [[Volatile (astrogeology)|volatiles]] and [[mineral]]s. Given the light gravity and resulting lower pressure in the ice [[mantle (geology)|mantle]] or inner ocean, colonizing the rocky [[Planetary core|core]]'s outer surface might give [[colonists]] the largest number of [[mineral]] and [[volatility (chemistry)|volatile]] resources as well as insulating them from cold.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}} Surface habitats or [[domes]] are another possibility, as [[background radiation]] levels are likely to be low.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}}

==In fiction==

Colonists of such bodies could also build [[space habitat|rotating habitats]] or live in dug-out spaces and light them with [[fusion reactor]]s for thousands to millions of years before moving on.<ref>[[Carl E. Sagan]], "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space". Random House, 1994, {{ISBN |0-345-37659-5}}.</ref>{{dubious|date=January 2016}}<!--Low gravity health issues.--> Dyson and [[Carl Sagan]] envisioned that humanity could migrate to neighbouring star systems, which have similar clouds, by using natural objects as [[Generation ship|slow interstellar vessels]] with substantial natural resources; and that such interstellar colonies could also serve as way-stations for faster, smaller interstellar ships. Alternatively Richard Terra has proposed using the materials from the Oort-cloud objects to build vast starlight collecting arrays to power habitats, thus making an Oort-cloud community essentially independent of its central star and fusion fuel supplies.<ref>Richard P. Terra, "Islands in the Sky: Human Exploration and Settlement of the Oort Cloud", in ''Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space'', Stanley Schmidt and Robert Zubrin, eds. Wiley, 1996, {{ISBN |0-471-13561-5</ref> Gregory Matloff has suggested that [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] intelligences have already colonized the Oort Cloud, easily avoiding observation by emulating the appearance of natural objects.<ref>Gregory Matloff, "The Re-enchantment of the Solar System", National Institute for Discovery Science, http://holtz.org/Library/Natural%20Science/Biology/Exobiology/The%20Reenchantment%20of%20the%20Solar%20System%20A%20Proposed%20Search%20for%20Local%20ET.htm}}</ref>

[[Dwarf planets]] such as [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]] and [[Makemake (dwarf planet)|Makemake]] may be excellent candidates for [[colonization]]. Their [[cryogenic]] temperatures and extreme distance from the inner [[Solar System]] could make them suitable for eccentric or outcast groups, or for groups conducting research forbidden elsewhere, as mentioned in [[Charles Stross]]' novel ''[[Saturn's Children (novel)|Saturn's Children]]'', the first [[novel]] set partly on Eris.

==References==

;Notes

{{reflist}}

;==Bibliography==

*Freeman Dyson, "The World, the Flesh, and the Devil", Third J.D. Bernal Lecture, May 1972, reprinted in Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Carl Sagan, ed., MIT Press, 1973, {{ISBN |0-262-69037-3}}

*Richard P. Terra, "Islands in the Sky: Human Exploration and Settlement of the Oort Cloud", in Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space, Stanley Schmidt and Robert Zubrin, eds. Wiley, 1996, {{ISBN |0-471-13561-5}}

*Ben R. Finney and Eric M. Jones, eds., Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience, University of California Press, 1986, {{ISBN |0-520-05898-4}}

*David G. Stephenson, "Comets and Interstellar Travel", in Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 36, 1983, pp.&nbsp;210–214.

==External links==

*[http://www.orbitalvector.com/Interstellar%20Flight/Stepping%20Stone/Stepping%20Stone.htm ''Orbitalvector.com'']

{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}

{{Space colonization}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonization Of Trans-Neptunian Objects}}

[[Category:Space colonization|+Trans-Neptunian objects]]

[[Category:Spaceflight]]

[[Category:Freeman Dyson]]

[[Category:Trans-Neptunian objects]]