Colonization of trans-Neptunian objects: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:14, 6 September 2013

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

{{Space colonization}}

[[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]].

Since Dr Dyson's proposal, the number of [[Trans-Neptunian Objects]] known has increased greatly, and the size of known TNOs has led to considerable argument over what to call them. [[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]] make them suitable for eccentric or outcast groups, or for groups conducting research forbidden elsewhere, as mentioned in [[Charles Stross]]' novel ''[[Saturn's Children (Stross novel)|Saturn's Children]]'', the first [[novel]] set partly on [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]]. Surface habitats or [[domes]] are another possibility, as [[background radiation]] levels are likely to be low. Colonists could also 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.