Colonization of trans-Neptunian objects: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:29, 26 July 2011

Revision as of 14:26, 16 December 2011

Line 3:

[[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]] and [[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]]. 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]] or [[mantle]], using [[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]] or inner [[ocean]], colonizing the rocky [[core]]'s outer surface might give [[colonists]] the largest number of [[mineral]] and [[volatile]] resources as well as insulating them from cold.

Colonists of such bodies could 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".