I gots me a plan (original) (raw)

I orginally posted this in my own LJ(with slight changes), but it was over a month ago and no one has commented on it. So I'm posting here and maybe some other places. Please read and let me know what you think of it.

This space thing. Here's how I'd do it:

Three phases to the initial expansion. Terrestrial, Lunar, and Martian. Each phase would have three stages of habitation and development. Scientific(research stations, observatories), industrial(factories, mining), and residential(colonies[which would also have industry and science, of course]), in that order. During each phase, large numbers of probes and eventually pre-fab buildings would be sent to the objective of the next phase. So, during the terrestrial phase, unmanned missions would be sent to Luna, to find good landing and construction sites, and then pre-fab buildings would be sent, so that there will already be a base when the manned mission is sent. Same with unmanned Mars missions during the Lunar phase.

First, terrestrial phase. Start with stations in Earth orbit. Not this pansy ass ISS stuff, but real stations, with real names, and manufacturing and launching facilities. Research stations would also be built. All of these facilities would be built at higher and higher orbits, from Low Earth Orbit to the Clarke(geostationary) orbit. Development of carbon nanotubes should also be given top priority, to develop materials to build a space elevator, but that should proceed concurrenty with the rest of the program. We shouldn't wait until we have an elevator to start out. I'm thinking Sao Tomé would be a good place to build the first one. It's on the equator, and near the sea, so a major port could be built there, and it could bring alot of wealth to Africa. Maybe bring that continent out of the stone age. There could be another elevator on the other side of the planet in the Indonesia area. Alternatively, Sri Lanka would be a neat place to put it, cause of Clarke and all. I'm not sure if Sri Lanka is close enough to the equator though. Being near the sea might not be good though. Hurricanes/typhoons might fuck with the elevator.

Then the lunar phase. We send manned missions to Luna. Build a station in lunar orbit. Manned trips from Earth to Luna will actually be trips from stations in Earth orbit to stations in Lunar orbit. During the development of stations in Lunar orbit, research stations will be established on the surface. Communications sattelites would relay communication to the far side of the moon, where an observatory would be built. Once research and especially industrial facilities were up and running in orbit, mining facilities would be built on the surface. Henceforth, much of the material for the space program would come from Luna.

Then the Martian phase. We'd be sending unmanned missions there all through the Lunar phase. We'd establish a station in orbit, maybe an outpost on Phobos. Then send down a manned mission to a site chosen from the data from the unmanned missions, which would already have pre-fab buildings and such ready. Research stations, in interesting locales such as Olympus Mons, Valles Marineris, the icecaps, Elysium, etc. Archeaological missions would be sent to Cydonia. Once Mars was determined to be safe, mining industrial facilities will be set up on the surface. Most research and much of the industry on Mars would focus on terraforming.

The residential stages of all these phases won't begin until Earth orbit, Luna(both orbit and surface) and Mars(orbit and surface) are all thorough studied and determined to be safe and suitable for habitation. So, the colonies would actually come after all the previously outlined actions.

Once industrial and scientific facilities are established in all five areas, one of two paths may be taken.

We could move inward, to study Venus and Mercury.I don't favour this approach. I think real development of those two harsh planets will have to wait for more advanced technology that can withstand the conditions there. Other than some scientific stations in Venusian orbit and on the dark side of Mercury, I don't see much here, although mining on the dark side of Mercury could be possible, but I believe the asteroid belt offers more resources.

The other path, the one I favour, is outward. After Mars facilities are established, we can send more probes to the asteroid belt, to find metal. When a large one if found, it should be hauled back to Martian orbit, either by a drone, or possibly a manned mission. A large asteroid or near-pure metal(they're not rare) would provide an abundance of resources to build ships and stations.

Assuming construction techniques had advanced enough by this time, now would begin the building of space colonies, at the LaGrange points. These would take the form of huge, hollow, rotating cylinders, 20 miles long and 4 miles across. There would be six alternating strips, three of land, and three transparent to let in sunlight(reflected from huge mirrors, not direct). This type of colony is called an O'Neill Cylinder. They could hold several million people.

This begins the true expansion of the human race across the inner Solar system. Missions to the outer planets would proceed at the same measured, methodical pace. Eventually, when we've got stations in orbit around every planet and large moon, and on the surface of every large body that has a relatively friendly surface, and maybe under the ice of Europa, then we head to the stars, while continuing to develop our resources in-system. If propulsion technology hasn't advanced to FTL levels by then(which it likely won't have), I think the best thing would be to send "generational" ships, with hundreds of thousands or people, so that they can sustain themselves over the hundreds or thousands of years between Earth and the nearest Earthlike planet. The best form for such a ship would be an O'Neill cylinder. Simply strap engines onto a colony, and make any other needed modifications, fill it with people, aim it at the nearest earthlike planet, and go.

How earthlike planets around other stars may be found, and how sunlight or the equivilent will be provided in the darkness of interstellar space, I dunno yet. This(the leaving the solar system stage) would likely be a thousand or so years in the future. The rest of it can start now.

That's the technological aspects. Now for my musings on the possible social reprecussions.

Eventually, the majority of humanity will live in space, even before we leave the system. There's alot more room in the rest of the solar system than here on Earth, alot of space nobody's using. Over time, Earth's population will drop to a more healthy level. Maybe by then Earth would be considered sort of a historical area. The parts of the planet that are still wild could be nature preserves, while the parts humans have lived in could become historical sites. All the monuments that should be built but haven't yet could be(there's a big, bare plateau in Northern Africa...why not emblazon an SAS insignia on it?). The Earth could become an archive of the history of humanity, with only a relatively small population to support it, but with many visitors from the colonies and such. The youth of the future may even come to view Earth as "the past" and space as "the future". Let's just hope they honour and remember their past rather than discard and forget it.

Problems could arise, of course. Even in space, we're our own worst enemy. Revolt among the colonies could cause alot of trouble if it happened. So we'll have to make sure that conditions on the colonies are not unpleasant, and that the colonists aren't looked down upon. A highly skilled Diplomatic Corps would also be a great asset in making sure people play nice. Maybe instead of the rifle-toting peacekeepers of today, we'll have diplomats and negotiators to keep between between colonies, planets, etc. The would probably still be a need for an armed force though, even just a small one(but as size decreases, training, equipment, and skills must increase...maybe such a force could be called the Special Space Service...), Maybe children of the future will idolise diplomats rather than warriors. It'd be interesting to see how it turned out.