The idea of colonizing asteroids is by no means new. We have seen it before numerous times in Science Fiction and have even read studies that take that fiction further by proposing to build megastructures on Ceres. What a team of astrophysicists now proposes from the University of Rochester goes a step further, and consists of turning asteroids into cities orbitals.
It all starts with the so-called O’Nei Cylinderll. In 1977, the physicist Gerard K. O’Neill proposed the creation of a space habitat consisting of one or more cylinders whose rotation would provide artificial gravity on its inner face. If the concept sounds familiar to you, it is because it is one of the most widespread in science fiction. The idea of huge cylindrical ships with their own gravity It is something that we have already seen in novels like Quote with Ramamovies like Interstellar o Elysiumor television series like his own The Expanse.
The concept could work, at least in theory. The problem is that Building such a structure poses a number of challenges for which we are simply not prepared. To begin with, it would have to be built directly in space because it would be too expensive to put it into orbit. To continue we would need some source of raw material nearby and a real space station dedicated to processing that raw material. The costs of such an operation would simply be prohibitive.
This is where University of Rochester physics and astronomy professor Adam Frank comes in. Frank has worked alongside astrophysicists like Fred H. Gowen and mechanical engineers like Peter Miklavčič to define a method to create O’Neill cylinders. The procedure and its calculations were published in a fascinating study in Frontiers magazinebut it has been now that the University of Rochester it has promoted in an article.
For your particular space magic trick, Frank and your team just need a rocky asteroid about a kilometer like Bennu, a very large net and some propellers. Asteroids of this type are not a sunor block of solid rock, but a conglomerate of small rocks, dust and regolith It is held together by its own gravity. In fact, we know that walking on the surface of Bennu would not be much different from walking on a ball pit. However, it would suffice to equip one of these asteroids with thrusters that would increase its rotation for the centrifugal force to begin to disintegrate the conglomerate and launch material into space.
Before that happens, heThe researchers’ idea is to enclose the asteroid in a flexible and resistant net that collects material from the asteroid as it rotates outward. Over time (and assuming the network holds), the entire asteroid would be turned into a cylinder of rocky material retained by the network around it. At that point, all you have to do is complete the structure with a central axis, add solar panels on the outside, some thrusters to maneuver the cylinder if necessary and start building buildings on the inside face of our brand new cylinder with artificial gravity. The result would be something similar to the illustration that you can see on the cover of this very article.
Of course, this whole plan is still nothing more than a nice science fiction theory, but its basis is feasible if we find the right materials. As Frank himself says: “Space cities may seem like a fantasy right now, but history has taught us that in just a century technology can make things possible that we didn’t think possible.”[[University of Rochester via CNET]