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Moonwards: the future is for making

Artist depiction of Moon Town settlement in Lalande crater. Credits: Kim Holder / Moonwards.com

At some point in the future there will be settlements on the Moon. What will daily life be like in them? How will the architecture be designed? What crops and animals will be there? Will it be safe? What will the tech and culture be like?

Now you can virtually experience a realistic and sensible facsimile of such a town at Moonwards. The settlement is envisioned to be a multination facility that is based on sound technical and economic principles. Located in Lalande crater, Moon Town beckons with an immersive experience temping you to be a part of the development of its culture by helping to building the settlement, making your own home and attending events. Everything is set up for you with scientific accuracy: ships, rovers, habitats, machines and more. You can enjoy lunar parks, garden in the farm atriums, drive around and participate in all sorts of lunar life activities. Moonwards’ founder Kim Holder says:

“It’s all open source and you can use it however you like. It’s as open-ended as our future is right now. There are no cliches here, no fantasies. The day is nearly here when real ships will launch to really settle another world. There is a great deal we need to think about before then. Be a part of Moonwards.”

Artist’s depiction of an interior space of Moon Town. Credits: Kim Holder / Moonwards.com

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What will it take to become a spacefaring civilization?

Artist’s concept of an O’Neill space colony. Credit: Rachel Silverman / Blue Origin

J. N. Nielsen has a theory…or four. Picking up where he left off in his previous Bound in the Shallows post on Centauri Dreams about the origins of a spacefaring civilization, Nielsen explores the possibility that the nuclear rocket or fusion power may be the indispensable transformative technology that will enable breakout of a spacefaring future. But even if we develop the capability of nuclear propulsion, it may not be sufficient. We need a “mythology” to enable humanity’s next central project. As Nielson defines it, a mythology “… is a kind of recapitulation in which the contributions of ages past—whether biological, psychological, social, or cultural—are each given their due, and these antecedents serve as a springboard to something authentically novel, something unprecedented that facilitates human beings to transcend their past and to accomplish something unprecedented.”

As happens every time, whenever I dig into Nielson’s rich writings I loose myself in a beautiful philosophical landscape of culture. Give yourself some time to ponder and absorb these insightful hypotheses on what is needed to settle the solar system and beyond…and visit his Grand Strategy: View from Oregon site for more politics, economics, warfare, religion, and philosophy with a focus on civilization which often leads to consideration of the future and space exploration.

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2020 NIAC Symposium showcases cutting edge technology for space development

Illustration of SPEAR (Swarm Probe Enabling ATEG Reactor), an affordable nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft using a custom designed fission reactor. Credits: Troy Howe, Howe Industries LLC

The 2020 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium just rapped up it’s virtual event. The NAIC Program supports early studies of visionary concepts in space and aeronautics that develop and assess revolutionary, yet credible, aerospace architecture, mission, and system concepts. These studies showcase ideas that will enable far-term capabilities, and spawn exciting innovations to radically improve aerospace exploration, science, and operations.

There were a wealth of new ideas presented at this year’s meeting with Phase I, II, and III posters and presentations available as PDFs on the NAIC Symposium website. To give you a taste, above is an illustration of Howe Industries’ Phase II concept for a small, affordable nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft using a custom designed fission reactor with advanced thermoelectric generators (ATEGs). The innovative design would allow private entities, universities, or other interested parties to carry out missions across the solar system at relatively low cost.

Another favorite of ours was Trans Astronautica’s Mini Bee asteroid capture concept in which they will deploy, then chase down and “swallow” a test object in LEO as a precursor to an asteroid mining mission.

Illustration of Trans Astronautica Corporation’s Mini Bee spacecraft chasing down and capturing an artificial asteroid in LEO. Credits: Joel Sercel / Trans Astronautica Corporation

Some of these NIAC grants have already been covered by SSP such as Phil Metzger’s Aqua Factorem lunar water harvesting process, Masten’s instant lunar landing pad and Trans Astronautica Corporation’s Lunar Polar Propellant Mining Outpost.

We leave you with JPL’s Enceladus Vent Explorer

Illustration of Enceladus Vent Explorer concept. Credits: Masahiro (Hiro) Ono / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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ESA seeks innovative ideas on space solar power

Artist’s concept of solar power satellite. Credits: John Mankins / Forbes

The European Space Agency is soliciting submission of abstracts on ideas for development of space-based solar power that would address some of the technological bottlenecks preventing feasible realization. In a campaign for new ideas under its Open Space Innovation Platform, the Agency is seeking novel proposals for space-based solar power systems for applications on the Earth, Moon or Mars. They also are seeking methods of scaling and integrating space-based solar power into energy grids, in-space construction techniques and early in-space demonstration concepts.

Awards of 90,000€, 100,000€ or 175,000€ are being offered for ideas that would be implemented as co-funded research, system studies or early technology demonstrations, respectively.

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Rapid bootstrapping for faster ignition of off-Earth industry development

Artist’s concept of an O’Neill space colony. Credits: Blue Origin

In a thread on Twitter Philip Metzger, a planetary physicist at the University of Central Florida, updates his bootstrapping vision from a few years back in which he and colleagues at NASA published a paper on how robotics, 3D printing and in situ resource utilization could be leveraged to accelerate a solar system civilization. In a series of 9 Tweets, Metzger makes the case for his “Rapid Bootstrapping Scenario” as the preferred course out of three possible alternatives to get us there faster.

Many space enthusiasts, including Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos, advocate for what Metzger calls a solar system “Civilization Fully Revolutionized”. This is a future where most industrial manufacturing is done sustainably in space and Earth is preserved as a beautiful natural environment.

If we continue on the current path, down what Metzger calls “The Slow Growth Scenario”, space agencies like NASA will continue paving the technological highway for private entities to slowly develop their profitable enterprises. But because space exploration and development is difficult, a different approach is needed to prime the pump. Metzger suggests the preferred course of action is intentional pre-economic bootstrapping in which “…visionary individuals with means, citizen-led movements, or governments that see the long-term benefit of getting beyond our planetary limit…create a coalition of likeminded citizen movements and enlightened governments committed to a good future so we reach the ‘ignition’ point first by being fast”.

Source: Philip Metzger/UCF. @DrPhiltill. www.philipmetzger.com
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Design solutions for safe lunar habitats

Artist’s impression of an inflatable habitat on the Moon. Credits / NASA, Gary Kitmacher

Haym Benroya, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University and author of Turning Dust to Gold, Building a Future on the Moon and Mars gave a presentation recently at a workshop of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. EPSRC is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. The event kicked of a project sponsored by the EPSRC called Designing for the Future: Optimizing the structural form of regolith-based monolithic vaults in low-gravity conditions. Benroya shared his presentation with me in which he discusses the design challenges and solutions to optimize a reliable and safe lunar habitat.

The design of space settlements on the Moon will have an array of engineering challenges including protection from radiation, meteoroids, temperature extremes and Moonquakes. In addition, human factors such as psychological and physiological aspects associated with isolation and the lower gravity conditions need to be taken into consideration. This presentation summarizes all the key design constraints, especially those surrounding the thermal and seismic conditions, laying the engineering groundwork for safe dwellings that will be erected when we return to the Moon, hopefully this time to stay and thrive.

For the technically inclined who want more information on lunar settlement design methodology be sure and check out Benroya’s excellent book Building Habitats on the Moon: Engineering Approaches to Lunar Settlements.

And don’t miss our appearance along with Dr. David Livingston of The Space Show and Moonwards‘ Kim Holder at the Icarus Interstellar 2017 Starship Congress.

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When will the first human be born off Earth?

Space baby. Credits: scienceabc.com

One of the biggest challenges of space settlement facing humanity is procreation off world. We simply don’t know if its possible for a baby to be carried to term in less then one gravity. There are obvious ethical considerations of simply going there and trying it out. NASA is studying the problem but until we have a variable gravity centrifuge facility in space that will enable us to determine the “gravity prescription”, it will be a while before we have an answer.

In an article in The Space Review, Fred Nadis discusses some of the medical challenges of human reproduction in space and why one company, SpaceLife Origin, who’s mission was to enable human reproduction in space decided to suspend its planned missions for “Serious ethical, safety and medical concerns …”

These medical unknowns about reproduction in any gravitational field less then 1g is the obvious attraction of O’Neill type free space settlements which provide Earth normal gravity. But the huge scale and investment necessary to build such large scale settlements puts this approach far in the future. Al Globus thinks a better way might be to start with smaller spinning habitats in low earth orbit.

Asgardia’s has a key scientific goal of facilitating the first human childbirth in space which they believe is a crucial step on humanity’s “path to immortality as a species”. In preparation for that goal, the organization is creating the first sovereign nation in space. A good introduction to their plans can be found in an interview with Dr. Lena De Winne, the Head of Administration to the Head of Nation of Asgardia, who appeared on the Space Show recently.

Artist’s impression of the first human born in space. Credits: Asgardia
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A map of the future of space enterprise

The Pathfinders’ Guide to the Space Enterprise. Credits: The Aerospace Corporation.

The Aerospace Corporation has created a visually stunning chart called “Pathfinders’ Guide to the Space Enterprise” in which they provide a glimpse into the nascent space economy based on hundreds of ideas from over 70 world-class space experts condensed into seven core themes about how the future could unfold. The analysis, which is both deep and thought provoking, identified two critical uncertainties shaping the the future of space development:

1. The degree in which space will be “commercialized.”
How much will space exploration and exploitation be designed to seed the commercial ecosystem?

2. The evolution and potential transformation of global power states.
What space-based leverage points could change the terrestrial power balance?

Their hope is to “…inspire your internal adventurer to think about how space can and will play a role in the future and how we get there.”

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A simple inflatable Mars Habitat

Called “Space Nomad” the concept, conceived by Gábor Bihari at the University of Debrecen, Hungary and Thomas Herzig, CEO of Pneumocell Co., Vienna, Austria is described in paper available on Academia.edu. The elegant design takes into account the payload capacity of spacecraft of the near future and in situ resources available on Mars to arrive at a safe and feasible solution.

Artist’s rendering of a cross section of the Space Nomad habitat. This option of the settlement is made of several longitudinal inflatable tubes. The regolith ceiling protrudes to provide the proper shielding. The mirrors reflect sunlight into the structure all day. Credits: Gábor Bihari, Thomas Herzig

The main side wall is a tri-layer membrane with two gaps to provide insulation. The outer wall gap contains a vacuum and the inner one is gas-filled. The protruding ceiling provides shielding from radiation and protection from micrometeorites that impinge at high angles to the structure. The habitat is not completely closed as the design has a system for processing the Martian CO2 atmosphere, conditioning it for use by the greenhouses while producing breathable air and replenishing losses.

Artist’s illustration of the wall and roof structure of Space Nomad. Credits: Gábor Bihari, Thomas Herzig

A modified version of the habitat could be deployed at the Moon’s polar region as a preliminary step toward validation of the design before a Mars mission. Unlike the Mars settlement, this structure would have to be airtight and changes would be required to the mirror system.

Illustration of a modified circular version of Space Nomad as a proving ground for technology at the Moon’s polar region. Credits: Gábor Bihari, Thomas Herzig
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The Ultraview Effect and it’s spiritual implications

Artist’s impression of the Milky Way as viewed from the Moon. Credits: Geoff Kemal Ruzgar / International Association of Astronomical Artists

Most space enthusiasts are familiar with the Overview Effect coined by Frank White which many of the astronauts who have made it to space have experienced: a spiritual cognitive shift as a result of seeing the Earth from space that increases some astronauts’ sense of connection to humanity and the universe. Now in a paper published in the journal Religions, Deana L. Weibel introduces the term “Ultraview Effect” which describes “…the parallel experience of viewing the Milky Way galaxy from the Moon’s orbit … that can result in strong convictions about the prevalence of life in the universe or even unorthodox beliefs about the origins of humanity.”

Weibel conducted extensive research based mainly on astronauts’ first-person writings, historical documents, and her own ethnographic interviews with nine astronauts conducted between 2004 and 2020. She explores a hypothesis that through space exploration, humanity’s increased awareness of “hyperobjects” such as our planet from space or our galaxy from the Moon, have the potential to be socially beneficial. This could lead to better collaboration, heightened creativity and set us on a more hopeful path for eventual space settlement.