Re: forests on orbit

All this talk of robots does not mean that we need robots at Ceres to
make a difference in our global conditoin.

We need send fewer than 20,000 people to Ceres to make use of that
dwarf planet to implement the visionary scheme outlined here, where
raw materials in the form of ores and ices are returned to Earth orbit
and processed on orbit tele-robotically by solar powered factories on
orbit - which deliver finished goods, food and fiber to anyone
anywhere on the planet.
..
Ceres represents a continuation of our present industrial
infrastructure off-world for a period in excess of 1 million years.

9.46e+20 kg is the mass of Ceres.
9.46e+17 MT in terms of metric tons
10% - useful materials 95% non-useful
9.46e+16 MT useful materials
6.6e+09 MT/year human consumption
1.43e+06 years

Sending fleets of spaceraft - tended by humans - working in micro-
gravity processes enough materials and returns them to Earth to
transform life on Earth.

Reduced cost to space result in the dispersal of humans away from
cities, supported by off-world assets anywhere connected by
telepresence, telerobotics and personal ballistic transport (see the
movie Rocketeer) - as costs of rocketry decrease, space homes will
displace terrestrial homes - and people will move off world.

Once on orbit materials will be largely though not completely closed
cycle. The value of Ceres will extend to 1 billion years - the period
of time the Sun remains cool enough to sustian life on Earth.

We're 25 to 50 yeas away from achieving a productive system that will
be stable and rich for a very long long time.

Collecting sunlight on orbit near the sun beaming it to where its
needed in the soalr system.

Collecting materials in the asteroid belt and rocketing it to where
its needed.

Early on, low earth orbit is an ideal place to put tele-robotic
factories that employ humans to produce things consumed by humans.

The space stations where this occurs will grow in size as costs per
unit area of construction decrease;

1) factories
2) farms
3) forests
4) homes

I went into this in more detail elsewhere.

Ultimately, within 100 years people will not age and live in self
sufficient solar powered space stations tended by AI and robots driven
by AI to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the stations.

The stations themselves are tended by larger space factories that are
themselves space stations that process wastes from the stations and
raw materials found throughout the solar systems small bodies.


Reproductive rates of humans will decline with rising living
standards. Robot populations will rise when freed of the need to be
driven by humans.

Even so, the number of robots will likely peak at 100x human levels,
since the nees of each human on average is unlikely to require more
than this amount of labor. Recall that each robot represents 4x a
human's industrial output. With total automation - free of human
drivers - and constraints - it is likely that robots will be 2 to 3
times more efficient than any human in terms of time-motion. So, each
robot would likely be as productive as 10 humans over time.
Industrial workers generate $100,000 per year on average. So, a
single robot would produce $1 million in wealth. An army of 100 would
generate $100 million per year.

Furthermore, once the AI problem is resolved, each human will likely
have access to 10 super-intelligent AIs smarter than any human now
alive. Those intelligences will be programmed to maintain and support
each human's needs using the resources at its disposal. This will
likely multiply the value of the robots available to each human
another factor of 10x
.. .
What we're saying is that we can organize things so that reality
responds to each person's wishes without any effort on the part of
that person whatever except to be clear about what they want.

If we should do nothing until after strong AI is available- assuming
it is available - those who achieve it may use off-world energy and
material resources to transform life on Earth largely independently of
what anyone else does.

http://www.primelocation.com/content/article/id/2999/

0.43 acre per home with 16,000 sq ft per dwelling on Earth gets
something along the lines of the home shown here - supported off world
obviously by the space stations I describe here and elsewhere. That's
575 homes per sq km. At 3 people per home on average, that's 2.2
billion homesites. That's 3.82 million sq km of land.

On Earth this is 2.2% of the 169.8 million sq km of land area. In
space this constitutes about 1 million space stations on orbit - less
than the farmlands needed and vastly less than the forests needed. In
fact on orbit, we can assume that homesites such as this will expand
to include 43 acres - or so, 100x the size shown here - with
outbuildings and estate acgriculture.

Taking a global map of Earth - and selecting regions on 20 measures of
attractiveness - being unpopulated being one of them - but near
population centers being another measure - and ease of access from
polar orbit and so on ... The 2.2 billion housing sites have already
been selected and a world city tied together by ballistic transport,
satellite communication, and so forth has already been designed..

Once sufficient capacity is available on orbit, one can without much
objection assert the right of conquest, or the right of emminent
domain - to seize unusued property - and construct the 2.2 billion
homesites using resources delivered from orbit. These are complete
with furnishings, appliances, communications, energy, transport and
supply infrastuctures

While the terminology seems combative, it need not be. I doubt anyone
would object taking unused land in any region and making stupendous
wealth freely available to locals in a way they value most.

Each person is monitored and tracked from orbit prior to deployment.
Residences are attached logically to each person most appropriate to
each homesite - on another range of criterion. Think of this as a
deed.

Once the residencs are built, transport and communications are made
available to the attached person. On their say when they wish, they
can visit their homesite, stay there, or make use of it remotely to
support whatever lifestyle they choose - ie - order a meal, medical
care and so forth. (an in residence medical facility is available to
each person}

Transport is via propulsive skin ballistic aircraft energized by laser
energy from space - with hydrogen/air powered take off and landing -
hydrogen recharge from air moisture using laser energy during flight.

Each residence is eqiupped with a chapel - appropriate to the religion
of the inhabitants - even those who worship bacchus - a party room/bar
- those who worship money and power - an office/meeting room to
display iconic wealth symbols - and so forth.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: forests on orbit
    ... places more locally radioactive than Earth. ... raw materials in the form of ores and ices are returned to Earth orbit ... The space stations where this occurs will grow in size as costs per ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Wilsons The Harvest and Global Warming
    ... space stations in orbit for some time. ... I'm not sure global warming ... of Earth were ever given. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Worst SF/F book youve read
    ... I think robots are far more efficient. ... and transmitting the results back to Earth. ... about stripmining asteroids, planetoids, moons and planets. ... > If we want to increase energy use more than that, ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: We choose to go to the moon
    ... place and the surface of the moon is even worse. ... The telemetry it sends back to Earth can be used to decide on the best course of action - that is pretty much how it is done today. ... Using robots to work in hostile environments where we cannot function is standard practice on Earth. ... On the surface of Mars you need decent sensors and telemetry. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Sickening Discussion
    ... I never said that robots can replace the human or spirit. ... programs of research; astronauts operate the instruments". ... WE back on Earth want that data. ... for projectiles to travel between Earth & most of the other planets. ...
    (sci.space.history)