Colonization of trans-Neptunian objects: Difference between revisions

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[[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]] 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. 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.

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". 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>

==In fiction==

[[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==