The chapter discusses the possible use of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) for mining, the space industry and human habitation. The building of self-sustaining habitats in space will be a crucial challenge in coming centuries. In the long run potential hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are a real threat to life on Earth; however, with the development of advanced propulsion systems like the Bussard fusion engine they can be intercepted and their trajectories modified. Various methods of deflection are discussed. Some NEAs or PHAs could be forced into an Earth orbit beyond the Moon and used for mining rare metals and rare Earth elements. When the mining process is complete the remaining hull of the asteroid is a suitable shield against cosmic rays and meteorites. The authors propose construction of rotating toroidal habitats inside these hollow celestial bodies. Natural sunlight is collected by an array of parabolic mirrors, beamed into the cave and distributed by a central cone with facet mirrors. By adjusting shutter elements a 24-hour cycle of day and night can be simulated. Oxygen and hydrogen are extracted from asteroid material during the mining process or in industrial plants in space, e.g., in the Lagrange points of the Earth‒Moon system. Vertical farms and aquaculture could provide nutrition for around 2000 inhabitants of an asteroid colony. In the coming centuries some hundreds of thousands of people could settle in the Earth‒Moon system and constitute a new society beyond planet Earth.


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    Title :

    Asteroid Habitats—Living Inside a Hollow Celestial Body


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Handbook of Space Resources ; Chapter : 22 ; 763-785


    Publication date :

    2023-04-28


    Size :

    23 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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