Category Archives: Moon Colonization

NASA scientists designed an inflatable cylinder greenhouse that could help astronautsgrow food when arriving at other planets. Astronauts have successfully grown vegetables and plants aboard the International Space Station, but with the newest project, NASA expects to develop long-term methods to help sustain astronauts working in deep space.

The project is being developed by NASA scientists at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and researchers from the University of Arizona.

The Prototype Lunar/Mars Greenhouse aims to sustain vegetarian diets for astronauts on locations such as the moon or Mars.

The Prototype Lunar/Mars Greenhouse project will support current research in space to cultivate and grow vegetables for food, as well as growing plants to sustain life support systems.

Were working with a team of scientists, engineers and small businesses at the University of Arizona to develop a closed-loop system, said Dr. Ray Wheeler, lead scientists at Kennedy Advanced Life Support Research, according to NASA. The approach uses plants to scrub carbon dioxide, while providing food and oxygen.

The prototype consists of an inflatable, deployable greenhouse designed to support plant and crop production. Such production will support astronauts nutrition and will help with the air revitalization, waste recycling, and water recycling. The process is known as a bioregenerative life support system.

Wheeler explained that astronauts exhale carbon dioxide, which is introduced into the inflatable greenhouse, thus allowing the plants to generate oxygen through photosynthesis. The water cycle will start with water that is brought along to the landing site or found at the lunar or Martian terrain. The water is then oxygenated, packed with nutrient salts, and then it will continuously flow across the roots of the plants and returned to the storage system.

Tests conducted by the University of Arizona in Tucson have been assessing which plants or seeds should be taken along to make the Prototype Lunar Greenhouse work on either the moon or Mars. These tests are crucial, as it is important to learn which resources will be needed to take along on the mission and which resources can be found on location. Such practice is called in-situ resource utilization, and NASA conducts to better prepare for long distance missions.

NASA engineers and scientists are currently developing systems to harness resources like water, which should be available in some regions of the Martian or lunar surface, to support long-lasting missions.

Were mimicking what the plants would have if they were on Earth and make use of these processes for life support, explained Dr. Gene Giacomelli, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. The entire system of the lunar greenhouse does represent, in a small way, the biological systems that are here on Earth.

Giacomelli, whos also a professor in the University of Arizonas Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department, noted that the next step of the project is to use additional lunar greenhouse units designed for testing to make sure the system being developed will be able to support a crew of astronauts working on lunar or Martian surfaces. Giacomelli added that they will also develop computer models to simulate the work theyre doing, to automatically control the environment and provide a stable level of oxygen.

According to a statement from the University of Arizona, the Prototype Lunar Greenhouse (LGH) is hoped to help fulfill the late Ralph Stecklers dream of space colonization. They note that the LGH aims to deliver more than sustained human presence in space, as the LGH also aspires to bring efficient commercial-ready technology to Earth.

Dr. Roberto Furfaro is the lead investigator from the University of Arizona for the current phase of the project. Furfaro is a professor in the Systems and Industrial Engineering Department within the College of Engineering. The prototypes of the lunar greenhouse currently being developed are cylindrical, measuring 18 feet long and more than 8 feet in diameter. The prototypes were built by Sadler Machine Company, one of the project partners.

To guard the greenhouse against space radiation, the units would likely be buried under surface soil or regolith, which is why theyd require specialized lighting.

Weve been successful in using electric LED (light emitting diode) lighting to grow plants, noted Wheeler. We also have tested hybrids using both natural and artificial lighting.

Scientists believe solar light could be captured with light concentrators that are designed to track the sun and then convey the light to the chamber employing fiber optic bundles. Although studies in working on the surface of other planets are being carried on Earth, astronauts aboard the space station have been gaining experience growing crops in space. The first project of this kind was NASAs Veggie Plant Growth System.

Wheeler notes that its interesting to consider that astronauts would be taking our terrestrial companions with them into space, using the greenhouse. He explains that although there are already ways to engineer around the problem in terms of stowage and resupply, it wouldnt be as sustainable and the greenhouse provides an autonomous approach to long-term exploration in the moon or Mars.

Source: NASA

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NASA develops inflatable greenhouse to grow crops on the moon and Mars - Pulse Headlines

Interplanetary travel. Celestial colonies. Life on Mars. Dont worry, this isnt the opening to a science-fiction novel all of this is possible. All of this is happening. Ellen Nugent finds out more.

ON July 21st, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon. NASAs Mars Exploration Rovers landed on the Red Planet in January, 2004. These are merely two examples of such expeditions, feats of scientific and intrepid brilliance, but they are simply not enough for humankind. Dissatisfied with our brief visits and voyages, the distant idea of colonizing new planets is swiftly becoming a reality.

Currently, there are no known planets within our solar system capable of supporting human life, but that hasnt stopped scientists from planning ahead for when we do find such planets. Mars, Venus and our moon have been investigated as potential hosts for human civilization, but low atmospheric oxygen and lack of facilities to support growth have not endeared these planets to potential homeowners.

Asteroids often contain valuable minerals which would allow the growth of food, and artificial gravity could be established in the colonies

Techniques to extract oxygen from carbon-dioxide-rich environments, such as the atmosphere on Mars, could be used to aid in the development of extraterrestrial colonies, but this carbon dioxide is limited. Scientists have also considered terraforming planets giant mirrors would be used to initiate global warming on the desired planet, eventually creating another planet capable of supporting human life. The cost of these procedures is, however, astronomical. There are also issues with the long-term effects of gravity on human development, and exposure to extraterrestrial radiation en route to these proposed settlements.

Scientists are also investigating planets outside our solar system for future colonization. The dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is located 39 light years away from Earth. (369,000 trillion miles!). Seven Earth-like planets were recently discovered orbiting the star, three of which are hypothetically habitable by humans. The planets also have their disadvantages, however the nearby proximity of the planets to the dwarf star heavily influences day and year length a year on each of the Trappist System planets lasts several days. The distance from the Trappist System to our solar system also hinders colonization of these planets we would require 39 years to reach the system with our current light-speed technologies.

It has also been suggested that asteroids are inhabitable colonies would be drilled into the surface of the asteroid, and a population of asteroids and interlinking space transports would be capable of supporting large human populations. Asteroids often contain valuable minerals which would allow the growth of food, and artificial gravity could be established in the colonies, due to the constant rotation of the Earth.

How would humans live on these planets? Would we build biospheres, creating micro-atmospheres? Would we spend our lives as nomads, passing from spaceship to spaceship?

There are, of course, questions that remain unanswered. Methods of reaching these planets are still debated with our current space travel technology, humans will only reach these planets in a generation ship (a ship in which descendants of the original crew will reach the planet), or in an induced hibernation state. How would humans live on these planets? Would we build biospheres, creating micro-atmospheres? Would we spend our lives as nomads, passing from spaceship to spaceship? What are the ethical concerns of sending a population that exploited and stripped their own planet in search of new worlds?

At this time, we have no answers for these questions space colonisation is still heavily debated, and we are unlikely to see progress until all issues have been addressed. It is clear, however, that space colonization is becoming steadily more attractive. Earths resources are steadily running dry humans will enter a time of crisis in the near future. Research into extraterrestrial settlements is a priority. The colonisation of other planets would reduce the stresses of overpopulation and human action on Earth, and would also protect the human race in the case of a worldwide disaster.

No matter if an asteroid strike occurred, or if Yellowstone got bored and erupted for a change of pace humankind would be safe, with populations sequestered on their planetary settlements, or making their way to distant stars.

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah.

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah.

Catherine Kim, Assistant Campus Editor April 23, 2017

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah has developed a 3D-printing method using simulants of lunar and martian dust, which could be used for planet colonization.

Shah said she has been working with her Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory to develop a 3D-painting process using materials that can easily be found on planets and moons in preparation for planet colonization. For more than five years, the lab has been developing 3D-printing technology that allows it to print a variety of different types of materials with one 3D printer, Shah said. In the past, lab members have printed using biomaterials, graphene and metals, she said. They decided to test using lunar and martian dust simulants based on the senior thesis project of alumna Katie Koube (McCormick 14), Shah said.

In order to colonize or inhabit extraterrestrial places like the moon or Mars, people will need to be able to use the very limited resources that are available, she said. This 3D-printing ink technology and process allows the creation of functional objects from the dust found on the surface of these extraterrestrial bodies.

Products of 3D inks made out of lunar or martian dust simulants are flexible, almost reminiscent of tires, Shah said. She said it is fascinating to see how bouncy the products are, despite their high particle loading.

The flexibility can be adjusted through methods such as heating, which will center the particles together and create more ceramic-like materials, Shah said. McCormick Prof. David Dunand said he is collaborating with Shah to fire the products to give them hard, ceramic-like properties, which can be used for building materials.

The technology developed for heating the products is based on the expected habitat, which is Mars or the moon, where most people would be working indoors. Dunand said he and Shah are currently looking into ways to use minimal energy to heat the products while dust can be easily collected, energy comes at a much higher price in space, he said. They are currently researching ways of heating the products in air and in hydrogen, Dunand said.

You dont want to be wasteful, like we are here on Earth , he said. (In space) every bit matters because ultimately theres a lot of dust, but youre limited in energy. When you fire bricks, it takes a lot of energy do that.

Fourth-year graduate student Shannon Taylor, who works in Shahs lab, said research for planet colonization is necessary because having a plan will be crucial in assuring its success when the time comes.

Were not there yet, but at the point we get there we cant send people without all of this in place, Taylor said. We have to know exactly what were doing because its super expensive and ultimately human lives are at risk.

Shah said the potential of the 3D-printing methods developed by her lab goes beyond creating products for just planet colonization. Her lab has managed to mix different types of inks together to create multi-functional objects that can be used on Earth as well, such as material that can be both electrically conducting and bone-regenerating, she said.

It starts to really expand what we can do as far as materials development and discovering materials that have very new properties, she said.

Allyson Chiu contributed reporting.

Email: [emailprotected] Twitter: @ck_525

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McCormick professor creates 3D-printing materials using martian, lunar dust simulants - Daily Northwestern

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation better known as SpaceX was founded just 15 years ago by Elon Musk, the world famous entrepreneur and genius behind other notable ventures such as Tesla Motors, Solar City and others. The aerospace manufacturer and space transport company was started with modest goals such as reducing space transportation cost and enabling the colonization of Mars.

SpaceX has developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family. Using these vehicles SpaceX has achieved things which just twenty years ago most people would not have thought possible for a private company. The Falcon launch vehicles are propelled by Merlin rocket engines which is a family of engines developed by SpaceX. The Merlin engine uses RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator cycle.

RP-1 which is also known either as Rocket Propellant-1, or Refined Petroleum-1, is a form of highly refined kerosene which bears a strong similarity to jet fuel. RP-1 has a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen but is cheaper to produce, far more stable at room temperature, and far denser which makes it significantly more powerful by volume than liquid hydrogen. RP-1 is most commonly burned using liquid oxygen as an oxidizer.

RP-1 was first formulated by rocket designers in the mid-1950s as a replacement for the alcohol based fuels which were previously the most commonly used liquid rocket fuels. Since its advent by fuel chemists it has been the primary fuel used for rocket propulsion by the United States. The lack of light hydrocarbons in RP-1 give it a very high flash point and make it less of a fire hazard than common gasoline, many forms of diesel fuel, or even some jet fuels. Rocket-grade kerosene gases made by Russia and previously by the Soviet Union are very similar in structure and are commonly designated T-1 and RG-1.

Liquid oxygen was first produced in 1883 and must be kept extremely cold and has a freezing point of -361.82 F and a boiling point of -297.33 F. The extreme temperatures which it must be kept at causes materials it comes in contact with to become extremely brittle. It acts as an extremely powerful oxidizing agent when brought in contact with organic matter and is commonly used as rocket fuel because it creates a very high specific impulse.

The Merlin engine was originally designed by SpaceX for sea recovery and reuse. The injector at the center the Merlin is a pintle type which was first used during the Apollo program. The original version of the Merlin was the Merlin 1A which was used twice in 2006 and 2007 on a Falcon 1 first stage. The Merlin 1B was an upgraded version of the Merlin 1A, but was discarded by SpaceX due to its experience from the Falcon 1.

The Merlin 1C was used from 2008-2012 on the Falcon 1 and the Falcon 9 before being dropped in favor of the Merlin 1D. The Merlin 1D was used on its first flight in 2013 and is the current model in production for SpaceX. It is able to produce more than twice the thrust of the Merlin 1A at sea level. SpaceX indicates that it needs to produce hundreds of engines per year in order to support its current rocket production plans.

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Powering the Future: A Look at the Engines and Fuel that Drives SpaceX Vehicles - Breaking Energy

A new technique could allow the first humans on Mars to 3D print everything from tools to temporary housing out of a tough rubber-like material using only Martian dust.

The method could enable the first humans who set foot on the Red Planet to print the tools and housing they need to survive without having to lug all the supplies aboard their spaceship.

"For places like other planets and moons, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to live," Ramille Shah, a materials scientist at Northwestern University in Illinois, said in a statement . "Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different functional or structural objects to make habitats beyond Earth." [Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization]

Any trip to Mars would require spaceships big enough to carry much more fuel and supplies than past spacecraft could, but care packages from Mother Earth won't be enough for humans to make it on an alien planet. Almost all schemes for colonizing the Red Planet (or for colonizing the moon) require that at least some of the supplies for the expeditions come from the local environment.

One step toward that goal would be to develop a supertool that could be used to quickly manufacture any other desired tool or object, using local resources. To that end, Shah and her colleagues wanted to see what could be made with some of the most abundant material on Mars and the moon: dust. The researchers used simulated dusts based on real lunar and Martian samples. The synthetic dust contains mixtures of aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide and other compounds. The hard particles simulating the lunar surface often have jagged, sharp edges, while Martian simulated dust is made up of rounder, less irregular particles, according to the researchers.

The team developed a process that combines simulated lunar and Martian dust with solvents and a biopolymer to create these extraterrestrial inks. The inks were then 3D printed into different shapes using an extruder. In the end, the objects which were composed of about 90 percent dust were tough and flexible, and could withstand the rolling, cutting and folding needed to print almost any 3D shape, Shah and her colleagues reported online March 20 in the journal Scientific Reports .

"We even 3D-printed interlocking bricks, similar to Legos , that can be used as building blocks," Shah said.

While rubbery materials could have their uses, as a next step, Shah and her colleague David Dunand, a materials scientist at Northwestern University, are now trying to figure out ways to heat these rubbery polymers so they harden like ceramics.

Originally published on Live Science.

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The first Mars colony could be 3D printed from Red Planet dust - Fox News

Its been bad news for the funding of many federal agencies since Donald Trump took office, but one of the bright spots in the gray new Washington cloud settled overhead is that NASAs budget escaped comparably intact, suffering only cuts to climate change research. As David Axe reported for Motherboard, Where Trump wants to reduce the EPAs funding by a third, effectively gutting the agency, he's proposing a mere $200 million reduction to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's current $19.3 billion budget.

A new report points that the Trump administration is leaving NASA intact because it believes it has significant potential to make money.

Thanks to internal communications between NASA and Trumps space transition team... we have some clues as to why Trump seems determined to keep the space agency mostly intact, writes Axe. The administration seems to be very interested in NASA's moneymaking potential.

As far as the Trump Administration is concerned, the money-making value of NASA seems to be tied up in two prominent segments of research and activity: tech development and the moon.

It appears NASA saved their funding by effectively convincing the Trump administration that it was on their side by suggesting that the efforts eventually make it to market, for other sectors to benefit from their work. In a transition memo(scroll down), NASA explains that their funding is split between in-house research efforts and contracting, which private innovation proponents are likely to be happy to hear. NASA further says that once technology reaches maturity, it is often shared with the public. From the memo:

NASA pursues technology development to support both the national innovation system (industry, academia, other government agencies, and the general public) and specific NASA mission requirements As STMD research and technology (R&T) efforts mature, appropriate technologies are transferred to industry and commercialized through multiple programs and approaches to benefit a wide range of users ensuring the nation realizes the full economic value and societal benefit of these innovations.

NASA further clarified that they spread this research "to the broader aerospace community, while protecting our industry partners proprietary interests." In other words, they seek to release everything they can to the public that wont harm a private sector partners proprietary interests.

And while NASA cautions the administration that their primary purpose is academic, they do hint that in the pursuit of the academics, theres something financial to be gained.

Significant portions of the document were dedicated to outlining how and where research was progressing on finding resources on the that would be collectable and, potentially, sustain human life either for the purpose of a mining outpost or maybe colonization one day.

But whether any of that collection could one day make money is an international law question. To extract valuable resources from the Moon for commercial purposes would seem to at least bump up against the 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by the United States, Russia (then USSR), and 90 other countries, Motherboard explains. The document states: "The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind."

So perhaps those moon mining dreams are dead in the water, as the president would never want to violate international law for profit.

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Apparently the Trump Administration Is Interested in Monetizing the Moon - Men's Journal

A new method has used simulated Martian and lunar dust to 3D print flexible, tough rubber tools like these.

Amanda Morris

A new technique could allow the first humans on Mars to 3D print everything from tools to temporary housing out of a tough rubber-like material using only Martian dust.

The method could enable the first humans who set foot on the Red Planet to print the tools and housing they need to survive without having to lug all the supplies aboard their spaceship.

For places like other planets and moons, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to live, Ramille Shah, a materials scientist at Northwestern University in Illinois,said in a statement. Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different functional or structural objects to make habitats beyond Earth. [Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization]

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Any trip to Mars would requirespaceshipsbig enough to carry much more fuel and supplies than past spacecraft could, but care packages from Mother Earth wont be enough for humans to make it on an alien planet. Almost all schemes for colonizing the Red Planet (or for colonizing the moon) require that at least some of the supplies for the expeditions come from the local environment.

One step toward that goal would be to develop a super tool that could be used to quickly manufacture any other desired tool or object, using local resources. To that end, Shah and her colleagues wanted to see what could be made with some of the most abundant material on Mars and the moon: dust. The researchers used simulated dusts based on real lunar and Martian samples. The synthetic dust contains mixtures of aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide and other compounds. The hard particles simulating the lunar surface often have jagged, sharp edges, while Martian simulated dust is made up of rounder, less irregular particles, according to the researchers.

The team developed a process that combines simulated lunar andMartian dustwith solvents and a biopolymer to create these extraterrestrial inks. The inks were then 3D printed into different shapes using an extruder. In the end, the objects which were composed of about 90 percent dust were tough and flexible, and could withstand the rolling, cutting and folding needed to print almost any 3D shape, Shah and her colleagues reported online March 20 in the journalScientific Reports.

We even 3D-printed interlocking bricks,similar to Legos, that can be used as building blocks, Shah said.

While rubbery materials could have their uses, as a next step, Shah and her colleague David Dunand, a materials scientist at Northwestern University, are now trying to figure out ways to heat these rubbery polymers so they harden like ceramics.

Originally published onLive Science.

Space.com. All rights reserved.

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Mars colony could 3D-print stuff from Red Planet dust - News 12 Now - WDEF News 12

Since Donald Trump became president in January there has been much speculation about his future space policy. Will he declare the moon his goal, and task NASA to take astronauts there? Or will he aim higher, doubling down on the push for Mars that NASA has been selling for the past six years? Or will he leave the exploration to private companies and citizens while squeezing NASAs budget into irrelevancy?

None of these choices are actually good ones. All repeat presidents failures since the 1960s to accomplish anything very striking in space. Since John F. Kennedy, subsequent presidents from Nixon to Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama have all copied Kennedy, making a Kennedy-like space speech that committed the nation to some wonderful space goal by some significant date.

None of those commitments have been met. Some never even happened. Instead, all we have done since the Apollo program is go around in circles, spending gobs of taxpayer money without getting much of anything for it.

If Trump wants to truly lead the United States and world into the exploration and settlement of the solar system, he needs to do something different and game-changing. He also needs to shift the federal governments focus away from building spaceships and rockets and towards its much more basic legal responsibilities, especially when its citizens wish to establish their mark in new territories.

Trump should propose a system that would allow the nations of the world to claim territory in space. Only by doing that will colonization and settlement of the solar system be finally possible.

To do this will involve renegotiating or repealing the United Nations Outer Space Treaty, first passed in 1967. While that treaty has many good features, such as making nations liable for any damage caused by any object they launch, its fundamental purpose has been to forbid any nation from claiming sovereignty on any territory in space, a restriction that has been increasingly recognized as a fundamental obstacle to settling the solar system.

For example, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all been recently reviewing their laws in an effort to promote the development of space. Some (Japan, Luxembourg, and the UK) have made proposals, but each has been limited by the restrictions of the Outer Space Treaty and have dealt only with Earthbound regulatory and liability issues.

Of these nations, Luxembourgone the worlds biggest investors in private enterprise in spacehas made the most effort to overcome the Outer Space Treaty. To encourage asteroid mining by private Luxembourg firms, they have proposed having their laws apply to the resources mined, not the territories themselves. As a result, the proposed law is very complex (thus raising development costs for private companies) while requiring a large bureaucracy. More importantly, it does nothing to legally protect the ownership of actual in situ space-mining operations. The Outer Space Treaty does not allow that.

These nations are actually late-comers to this issue. In the United States, Congress has been trying for decades to come up with a regulatory framework allowing for private development in space while still adhering to the Outer Space Treaty. All of these efforts have failed. Private enterprise in space is simply impossible under the UN treaty, since any private investment by individuals or companies remains exposed and unprotected legally.

Yet it is a governments fundamental job to establish an overall legal framework for its citizens. This is what the U.S. government did so well when the nation was forging westward and establishing new territories beyond the Mississippi River. Except for several relatively simple efforts like the Lewis and Clark expedition, the government never mounted a big government program to settle the west. Instead, it laid out the legal framework and territories under which the American population could do the settling, and then got out of the way.

So what should Trump do? At this moment he has a wonderful opportunity to put his stamp on the future, and steer the entire human race to the stars. Trump should propose a new Outer Space Treaty, superseding the old, that would let nations plant their flags in space. This new treaty should establish the rules by which individual nations can claim territory and establish their law and sovereignty on other worlds or asteroids.

The American homesteading acts of the 1800s could work as a good guide. Under those laws, if an American citizen staked a claim and maintained and developed it for five years, that claim and an accompanying amount of acreage would then become theirs.

In space, Trump could propose that in order for a nation to make a territorial claim, a nation or its citizens must establish a facility. If they occupy and use it for a minimum of five years, that nation can claim it, plus a reasonable amount of territory around it, and place it under that nations sovereignty.

Obviously this new Outer Space Treaty will require negotiation. For example, how much territory should each claim allow a nation to possess? One hundred square meters? A thousand? Ten thousand? Such a number must be determined by negotiation between the nations involved.

Similarly, what claims should the United States have on the landing sites it has already established on the moon and Mars? Does the United States already own the Apollo sites? Shall the United States claim all the territories its Martian rovers have travelled? Such questions will need discussion and negotiation.

Once such a system is in place, however, it will be possible for the United States, Luxembourg, Japan, the United Kingdom, and all other spacefaring countries to establish their legal systems on any territory in space they successfully claim. Private efforts by either individuals or companies within those territories will then have a framework under which they can protect their capital investments and property as they work to profit from their efforts.

Under this context, Trump should also push for a new American law that would apply to any American private effort in space. Once again, the homesteading acts can form a good framework. Under a new American homesteading act for space, American citizens could claim ownership of any real estate in space under U.S. jurisdiction, after they have established and maintained a claim on it for a period of years.

The size of territory private citizens claim should reflect their needs, as did the homestead acts of the 1800s. In the west it was found that 160 acres was sufficient for farmland, but desert claims needed to be larger, 640 acres, for farmers to succeed on them.

In space we do not yet know the right size for a self-sufficient homestead claim. Too small, and the homestead will not be viable. Too large, and we leave no more room for later settlers. As a start we could begin with 250 hectares, which is comparable to 640 acres, and adjust later with experience. Other nations could do some variation of the same, following their own national and cultural dictates.

Such an international and national framework would serve many laudable purposes. It would encourage competition and exploration, as every nation and person in the world would have an incentive to get there first to stake their claim.

No need to use force to establish control. The law would do it for you.

More importantly, it would provide a peaceful framework for every nation to settle and gain territory in space. Military conflict would be made irrelevant. You get there and build your base or colony, and the territory would be recognized as yours, by every nation on Earth. No need to use force to establish control. The law would do it for you.

Finally, this framework would allow for nations that believe in freedom and private property to establish their laws in space. Freedom and the American Constitution will be given an outlet throughout the solar system. Based on the success that system had in building the United States, this can only lead to good things.

President Trump has an opportunity now to change the nature of space exploration. To do so he needs to act boldly, and make fundamental political changes to the way the international community has been exploring space for the past half century. Having the government try to build the ships and rockets has not worked. Instead, we need the government to do its real jobestablishing lawwhile leaving the shipbuilding and profit-making to the citizens themselves.

If Trump does this, the future will be bright and exciting. If he doesnt, space exploration will continue to drift.

Link:
How President Trump Could Jumpstart Space Settlements - The Federalist

First Posted: Apr 15, 2017 06:30 AM EDT

(Photo : GoingViral/YouTube screenshot)

A team of researchers has fashioned a new 3D-printing technique that can be used to make everything, from small equipment to large buildings. Now, here comes the really interesting part -- the raw material needed for creating all of these things will be extraterrestrial dust from Mars or the Moon! The cool technology will allow humans to go ahead with space colonization plans as colonies can be built on alien worlds with limited surrounding resources.

According to The Indian Expressreport, a research team from the U.S. Northwestern University has demonstrated the capability to 3D-print structures with lunar and Martian dust simulants. The researchers used an extension of a 3D-painting process that had been earlier used by them to print graphene and carbon nanotubes, hyperelastic bone, metals and alloys.

For places like other moons and planets, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to survive, said Ramille Shah, from Northwesterns McCormick School of Engineering. Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different structural or functional objects to make habitats beyond Earth. The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Incidentally, the lunar and Martian dust simulants, which are NASA approved, have sizes, particle shapes and compositions similar to the dust found on the surface of the Moon and Mars. The researchers created the Martian and lunar 3D paints with the respective simulant dust, a series of simple solvents and biopolymer. After which, a simple extrusion process was used to 3D paint them. The structures made with the technique are more than 90 percent dust in weight.

Interestingly, in spite of being created with rigid micro-rocks, the 3D-painted material is tough yet elastic and flexible -- same as rubber. This is also the first example of soft and rubber-like material that has resulted from Martian and lunar simulant materials.

Furthermore, the materials created with the technology, using extraterrestrial dust simulants, can be folded, rolled, cut or shaped after being 3D-painted, if one wants to do so. The researchers feel that in 3D-painting technologys broader context, the development of the technique shows the potential of using a 3D printer on another world to make structures from various kinds of materials.

Tags3D-printing technique, Extraterrestrial Dust, Extraterrestrial Dust Simulant, 3D-painting, Mars colonization, Moon colonization

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New 3D-Printing Method That Uses Extraterrestrial Dust, Helpful For Future Colonization Of Mars Or Moon - Science World Report

Finding life or indeed living on other planets ourselves has always been a dream but, at the rate that were going, it might soon become a critical necessity. Much of our off-planet colonization fantasies have focused on planets outside our solar system but, as NASA scientists are finding out, we might not have to look that far. Two separate and rather old NASA missions are discovering clues that Enceladus, Saturns icy moon, and Europa, Jupiters equally icy moon, might have just the right elements to sustain life, either ours or someone elses.

Although Cassini mission launched way back 1997, it wasnt until 2004 that it entered Saturns orbit. It took another 10 years, in 2014, for the orbiter to start reporting in some rather interesting findings coming from Saturns moon, Enceladus. According to a paper by Cassini mission researchers, the moon is ejecting plumes of what turned out to be 98% water, 1% hydrogen, and other gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and amonia. As it turns out, these are exactly some of the ingredients necessary to sustain life as we know it here on Earth.

Among the chemical ingredients of organic life, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen have already been observed on Enceladus. The other two, phospor and sulfur, have yet to be discovered, but scientists are confident that the elements are there, since Enceladus is believed to have a core similar to that of meteorites that have those two in abundance.

As for Jupiters moon Europa, the observation is less definitive and more remote, coming from the Hubble Space Telescope. Back in 2014, scientists observed what they thought was a one time plume, similar to the phenomenon on Enceladus. But just last year, they observed yet another, higher plume, and in the exact same location as the 2014 plume. Comparing it with thermal map that NASAs Galileo mission gathered in the 1990s, Hubble scientists discovered that the location corresponds to a thermal anomaly on Europa, a warm region on the otherwise frozen moon.

Considering the similarities, scientists are only too excited to theorize that the Europa plumes could also be composed mainly of water being ejected out of the moons icy crust and is warming up the region. It could, very well, also have the same life-sustaining elements as Enceladus. Hubble, unfortunately, is just too far to make further investigations, but the discovery is definitely getting NASA even more stoked about its 2020 Europa Clipper mission.

SOURCE: NASA

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Saturn's and Jupiter's moons might be able to sustain life - SlashGear