Someday, humans may live around Neptune and the Trans-Neptunian region, where they'll export terraforming gases, fuel for fusion reactors, conduct vital research, and gaze out into the Universe!
Host | Matthew S Williams
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/matthew-s-williams
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Episode Notes
Someday, humans may live around Neptune and the Trans-Neptunian region, where they'll export terraforming gases, fuel for fusion reactors, conduct vital research, and gaze out into the Universe! With the right strategies and technologies, there could be a branch of humanity someday known as Neptunians, Plutonians (or Hadeans), and Ice Belters!
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Resources
The Science of Becoming "Interplanetary": How can humans live in the outer Solar System? (Interesting Engineering): https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/science-interplanetary-humans-live-outer-solar-system
Colonizing the Outer Solar System (Universe Today): https://www.universetoday.com/132010/colonizing-outer-solar-system/
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For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast
The Great Migration: Living at the Edge of the Solar System | Stories From Space Podcast With Matthew S Williams
[00:00:00] The authors acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the
traditional unceded lands of the Lekwungen peoples. Good morning, and
welcome back to Stories from Space. I'm your host, Matt Williams, and today
we're going to get into our final installment in the Great Migration Series, how
human beings may someday come to settle the entire solar system, by taking a
look at Neptune and the Trans Neptunian region, which includes the Kuiper belt
and the Oort cloud and of course all the many planets or dwarf planets if you're
someone who embraces the current IAU definition that exist in these regions.
That includes Pluto, its largest moon Charon, as well as Eris, Haumea,
Makemake, Sedna, Gongong, Quaor, Orcus, And the many, many more larger
objects that have been discovered in the past few decades.
And as we covered in previous episodes, [00:01:00] settling on any of the bodies
that are beyond Earth, be they planets, moons, large asteroids, it represents a
major challenge. But with the right strategies, the right know how, the right kind
of commitment, and of course, the requisite technology, It can be done, and the
benefits would be quite substantial, and of course it's also important to take into
account that by the time humanity has the option of settling around Neptune in
the Trans Neptunian region, any of those technologies will already exist and be
in widespread use.
So there's not going to be a huge learning curve involved by the time that
settling on moons like Triton, on Pluto and Charon, and the aforementioned
dwarf planets will become possible. And the same goes for the strategies and
the means through which we make life in this region of the solar system livable.
In fact, the methods used for settling within the asteroid belt, within the Jovian
system, the [00:02:00] Cronian system, that is, Jupiter and Saturn, respectively,
and the Uranian system, they will already have been tested and validated, and
so, with some minor modifications, they can be adapted to the Trans Neptunian
region without much difficulty.
Nevertheless, it would still represent a huge undertaking. So, when it comes to
the outer solar system, Neptune and beyond is one of the least explored and
understood regions. So, our knowledge of the region would have to increase
dramatically in order for us to ever really consider establishing settlements
there.But, again, assuming we have already established settlements all the way up to
Uranus, Neptune in the trans Neptunian region would be a relatively easy hop,
skip, and a jump. In terms of what we do know, Neptune, like Uranus, is
predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium, but also contains more
volatile elements, [00:03:00] compared to your other gas giants, such as water,
ammonia, methane, and various hydrocarbons.
And it is the presence of methane that actually gives both Uranus and Neptune
their characteristic color. And also like Uranus, because many of the elements,
the volatiles that it contains, are under such pressure and density, they become
solid as one descends through the atmosphere. So, Neptune, like Uranus, is
known as an ice giant, to differentiate them from Jupiter and Saturn.
And lastly, like Uranus, Neptune is believed to experience diamond rain within
its atmosphere as a result of carbon under intense pressure. It solidifies to form
diamonds, which then fall deeper into the atmosphere in the form of
precipitation. As to what separates Neptune and Uranus, Neptune has higher
concentrations of methane in its atmosphere, and this higher [00:04:00]
concentration of methane is why Neptune has a slightly bluer hue than Uranus.
Another unique attribute that Neptune has is its name. Unlike the other solar
planets, it is the only one to be named after a god in the Greek pantheon rather
than their Roman equivalent. In this case, Neptune was the god of the sea, and
its intense blue color had a lot to do with the inspiration for that name.
Lastly, Neptune is unique among the gas and ice giants in that it has one
particularly large satellite, Triton, which was the only satellite found around
Neptune that was large enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, which is to
say that it has enough matter and density that it collapsed under its own gravity
to form a spherical shape.
And like its parent planet, it was not discovered until the mid 19th century by
English astronomer William Lassall. So unlike the other gas and ice giants, Triton
accounts for a [00:05:00] significantly large portion of the mass fraction of all the
satellites that surround Neptune, 99. 5 percent of it. Based on this, scientists
believe that in fact, Triton did not form around Neptune, and what we see there
are not its original system of satellites.
And so scientists believe that Triton is actually a minor planet that formed in the
Kuiper belt, much like Pluto, Eris, Make, etc. and was kicked out by gravitationalperturbances and fell into orbit around Neptune and caused a very, very serious
tidal disruption that led its other moons to collide and break apart and for that
debris to eventually settle into the smaller satellites we see now.
very much. Whereas Triton, as we see it today, is the result of a lot of that debris
coalescing with the original captured minor planet. And like many moons in the
outer solar [00:06:00] system, scientists believe that its structure is differentiated
between a surface composed of ice, in this case, nitrogen ice, and As well as
water ice, then these two make up the crust.
And beneath that, it is believed that a liquid water ocean exists. And this is made
evident by the cryovolcanism that the Voyager 2 probe noticed as it made its
historic flyby in 1989. And this was the only mission that's ever conducted a
close flyby with Triton. Nevertheless, what it revealed was very interesting.
In addition to the cryovolcanism, where liquid nitrogen and water were erupting
through the surface, it also noted a tenuous nitrogen atmosphere. And, like other
ocean worlds, scientists believe that the core is composed of a silicate rock
outer core and an iron nickel inner core. So, based on what we know about Io,
Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, and the other ocean [00:07:00] worlds of the
system, the presence of this interior ocean and the cryovolcanism on the
surface, This is believed to be the result of tidal flexing in the interior caused by
the gravitational interactions between Triton itself and Neptune.
And so, like other ocean worlds, it is believed that this interior ocean that Triton
has may be capable of supporting life. And this is bolstered by other evidence
which showed Black material being ejected by its surface plumes, which were
believed to be organic molecules. Moving now to Pluto, and its largest satellite,
Chiron.
This is another planet in the outer solar system that for the longest time was the
least understood. And like Neptune and Uranus, it's been visited by only one
mission, and that is the New Horizons mission, which flew past in the summer of
2015, and the images it acquired were the sharpest ever taken of the planet, and
[00:08:00] finally gave astronomers Much better understanding of its surface
features, of the geological activity, and the climate, and its atmosphere, and
really everything going on in the surface that makes this body such a very
interesting and dynamic place.And speaking of its atmosphere, this is composed largely of methane that has
sublimated from exposure to the sun. And this is due to the composition of
Neptune, which consists of frozen nitrogen, frozen methane, and frozen carbon
monoxide. So just about all the volatiles with the lowest melting points, and
therefore also the lowest freezing points, At this distance from the Sun, they all
form ice that is condensed and solidified to the point where it's like granite.
It's like standing on a rocky planet. And similar to what we see with a lot of the
icy moons around the other gas giants, it's the dynamics of this ice, the way it
behaves, a [00:09:00] lot like tectonic plates or like volcanic activity. Except, of
course, in this case, we're talking about cryovolcanism, so volatiles under
pressure, breaking through the surface in the form of water and then instantly
sublimating to form a bit of an atmosphere.
Now, Charon is also a very interesting customer because it is roughly half the
size and one eighth the mass of Pluto, so scientists often consider Charon to be
co orbiting with Jupiter rather than orbiting around it. Thank you very much. And
because of the way they closely orbit each other, the two bodies are tightly
locked with each other, so one side is constantly facing towards the other.
So if you're standing on the surface of Pluto, you would look up and constantly
see one side of Charon, the same way that Earthlings look up at the Moon, which
is also tightly locked with our planet. So if you could stand on the surface of
Pluto, or Charon, look up into the sky, you would see the same face of [00:10:00]
the other body looking back to all the time, in the same way that we see only one
side of the moon at night.
And like Pluto, it's predominantly composed of nitrogen, and methane, and other
frozen volatiles. And this body may also experience cryovolcanism, which is
made evident by the presence of organic molecules that are on its surface that,
when exposed to the sun, become reddish brown. And this is very common
throughout the outer solar system, and it's known as tholins.
And these may have been caused by cryovolcanism, which caused them to
erupt onto the surface, or it's possible that they were transferred from Pluto's
tenuous atmosphere. Because, in fact, the two bodies are close enough that this
could take place. And whereas Neptune wasn't discovered until the mid 19th
century, Pluto was not discovered until 1930, and Charon not until 1978,
according to which goes to Clyde Tombaugh and James Christie, respectively.[00:11:00] And what's also very fascinating is much of the evidence that was
returned by the New Horizons mission indicated that, in fact, Pluto and Charon
could also be ocean worlds. That there could be liquid water oceans maintained
either through tidal heating, or through the decay of radioactive elements in the
core, or both, that allow for the existence of liquid water in the interior, with
estimates indicating that it could be 100 to 180 kilometers deep.
Now, beyond this, you have the aforementioned dwarf planets, most of which
orbit beyond Pluto, with the exception of Orcus, which actually has a slightly
tighter orbital radius around our Sun. But beyond Pluto, you have, in order,
Celesia, Haumea, Maor, Makemake, Gongong, Eris, and Sedna. Like Pluto, these
planets all have very, very long orbital periods, taking hundreds, [00:12:00] or in
the case of Sedna, 11, 400 years to complete a single orbit of the Sun.
And of these, only one, Eris, is comparable in size, but also greater in mass and
density than Pluto. Shalom. This was part of the reason for the great planet
debate. If, in fact, astronomers were finding satellites beyond the orbit of Pluto
that were comparable in size, then, what did they call them? Because, by and
large, all the other dwarf planets are about a third or two thirds, at most, the size
of Pluto and significantly less in terms of mass.
Nevertheless, within this population, as well as Pluto and Charon, and around
Neptune itself, the possibilities for exploration, research, and even living are
really quite significant. Now in terms of what this would look like, well, very
similar to what we explored in previous episodes dealing with the other gas and
ice giants, settlements in these [00:13:00] regions would most likely consist of
space stations.
that would orbit around the largest body and would allow for access to these
bodies and their satellites. And these would likely take the form of pinwheel
stations or O'Neill cylinders, essentially structures in space that rotate to
simulate Earth like gravity. And this is the greatest barrier to long term living in
the outer solar system, which is to say the low gravity.
So, for example, on Triton and Pluto, the gravity is less than 1 percent that of
Earth's. And on Charon, it gets even lower, less than 0. 3%. And this is close to
what astronauts experience in microgravity. Whether they're aboard the ISS or
traveling to deep space, the risk of long term exposure is The loss of muscle
mass, bone density, organ function, eyesight, and even psychological,
neurological, genetic changes over time.[00:14:00]So while settlements on the surface would not be feasible, short term visits
certainly would be. People would be able to visit the surface of these bodies,
possibly for the sake of resource extraction. or tourism, and spend the rest of
their time aboard a space station where the comfortable 1g of gravity ensures
that their health is maintained.
And this low gravity, though, has an upside, which is a very low escape velocity.
It takes a small fraction of the energy to achieve escape velocity compared to
what you would need to generate to send payloads to space from Earth or just
about any other body in the solar system. And of course, these habitats would
have to take into account radiation shielding as well, because in addition to the
microgravity like conditions, galactic cosmic rays are a serious problem in the
outer solar system.
But with sufficient shielding, habitats in this region of space could be [00:15:00]
entirely livable and populations able to thrive. And so, resources could be mined
and extracted on these bodies, and also manufactured. The low gravity would
facilitate certain types of manufacturing processes, and they could be launched
into space using very little propellant.
Or, in keeping with the tradition of the outer solar system hurling comets and
asteroids to the inner solar system, and at one time, minor planets like Triton, or
Pluto. These payloads could be hurled into space using kinetic launching
systems or magnetic launching systems. A sling a tron is a concept that relies on
these very principles.
And so, with proper precision and guidance, of course, payloads of methane,
nitrogen, and oxygen And other volatiles that were still in their icy form could be
hurled into the inner solar system, where they could be used especially for
terraforming purposes. Mars and Venus, for example, both [00:16:00] required
significant amounts of nitrogen, ammonia, methane, and also hydrogen,
depending on which planet we're talking about here.
The necessary greenhouse gases or Chemical reactants could be sourced from
the outer solar system and provide for the interior. In addition, Neptune, much
like Uranus and the gas giants, it has a considerable amount of hydrogen and
helium in its atmosphere, which could be scooped up and used to power fusion
reactors and fusion engines and everything of the sort.To quote Robert Zubrin, the outer solar system could one day become the
Persian Gulf of the solar system, providing the fuel that would meet our
transportation and energy needs, as well as other vital resources, which of
course include metals and silicate minerals. But by and large, the resources of
the outer solar system consist of volatile [00:17:00] elements in ice form, And
then, of course, includes water, which, in terms of resources, is absolutely
essential to living.
And so, the outer solar system could also become the wellspring of our future
civilization. And ice miners, much like what is depicted in the series The
Expanse, could become a reality, far beyond the main asteroid belt. Which
brings us to the Kuiper belt itself. Which, much like the main asteroid belt, is a
massive ring of smaller bodies with some larger bodies, all the dwarf planets
that were previously mentioned, that orbits the Sun.
But whereas asteroids in the main belt are predominantly composed of silicate
minerals and carbonaceous compounds and metals, the Kuiper belt consists of
isteroids. Which is to say they're composed of ices in the form of methane,
ammonia, and water. In addition, the Kuiper belt is 20 times as wide as [00:18:00]
the asteroid belt.
And as for its overall mass, estimates say that it could have 20 to 200 times the
overall mass of the asteroid belt. So, a lot of material there to work with. And
while it would be irresponsible to ever advise that humanity should comb these
belts and use everything there for the sake of resources, nevertheless,
committing to extracting a portion of these bodies and using them for their
materials, While leaving others as designated conservation areas would be in
keeping with sustainable practices, and that still leaves an unfathomably large
amount of material to use, and much the same is true for Bodies like Pluto and
Triton and others that are believed to be ocean worlds and have interior oceans.
Whether or not you want to try and access that water is a very debatable, very
ethically complicated [00:19:00] topic. Because if in fact these bodies are
capable of supporting life, then we would want to do the absolute minimum to
disturb any life there. But even with a strong conservationist approach in place,
that would still leave a huge amount of water and other volatile elements that
would be accessible.
So, as I said, even though there are sources of silicate minerals and metals in
the outer solar system, these would best be used, in my humble opinion, tomanufacture the bases and rotating stations on site, a case of in situ resource
utilization on a very grand scale. While the primary resources would consist of
water, terraforming gases, and, of course, lots of hydrogen and helium.
And this, of course, addresses another major challenge of settling in the outer
solar system, conducting tourism there, or business there, which is the extreme
[00:20:00] distances involved. For starters, Neptune is almost twice the distance,
which is to say, roughly 4. 5 billion kilometers from the Sun. Uranus being 2.
8 billion kilometers. Now, considering that it would take, using conventional
propulsion, six to nine months to reach Mars, one of the closest planets to Earth,
a one way trip to Neptune would take decades. So, commercially, it's really not
feasible, especially if you want to go to the Trans Neptunian region.
Where the distance just keeps multiplying, and considering that you want to
return as well, factoring in the return trips, and all the time spent reconnoitering
or conducting a resource extraction, you're dealing in timescales that are
completely unrealistic for human standards and human development. So, of
course, more advanced propulsion systems would be necessary.
And this is where having local sources of helium and [00:21:00] hydrogen comes
in really handy. Because at this point, we would be talking about propulsion
systems more advanced than your nuclear thermal or nuclear electric engines.
We're talking fusion engines at this point. But as noted earlier, at this point in the
game, if we are contemplating settling the outermost parts of the solar system,
then chances are we've already settled everything up to that point, and all of
these technologies were developed during that time in order to facilitate that
very process.
So once again, it comes down to, if you have the requisite technology, energy,
and resources at your disposal, you could be capable of mounting missions to
the outer solar system, of setting up shop there, creating in situ resource
utilization facilities that would provide fuel and building materials, so that
permanent habitats could be created there.
And then over time, this would [00:22:00] facilitate the emergence of an export
economy based mainly around volatiles and also fuel, which would provide for
the more densely populated areas of the solar system at this time. And so in
terms of the overall benefits. Well, as with other major settlement efforts, there
is, of course, the resource potential.Having access to the outer solar system's resources and planets would help
maintain the momentum established by settling neighboring planets and within
the main asteroid belt and around Jupiter and Saturn, which is to say, the era of
post scarcity economics. With so much in the way of resources available to us,
the very basis of wealth would disappear.
Without scarcity, there would be no such thing as the impoverished and the
wealthy, and this in turn would have significant social and political implications.
And of course, the ability to settle into the outer solar [00:23:00] system, having
new places to explore and live and work, would also lead to new social
developments that'd be very, very interesting to see.
And there would also be the potential for scientific research. At the edge of the
solar system, we could conduct all manner of astronomy, and we'd be doing so
with very little interference from other planets and bodies in the solar system,
not the least of which would be the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Placed out in the Kuiper belt, or beyond even, we would be capable of listening
for extraterrestrial transmissions like never before. And in addition, there is
some theories that an extraterrestrial intelligence may have already visited our
solar system in the form of probes. They would send their technology on ahead
to scout, and that perhaps we'd be able to find derelicts or even functioning
probes still there.
Among certain contact optimists, as [00:24:00] they're typically referred to, it is
conjectured that, yes, in fact, searching the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt
would be the best bet for finding examples of self replicating probes or
Amphistellar probes that have come about conveying messages or were just
doing recon.
So the opportunity to resolve the Fermi Paradox is there as well. And of course
there is the immense potential for conducting astrobiology studies. Looking at
Neptune's moon Triton and the trans Neptunian region, all the ocean worlds that
are there, it presents us with an opportunity to see if life did in fact exist.
Emerge in the outer solar system, and what forms it might take. Because, of
course, looking at the potential for life within the Jovian moons and the Cronian
moons around Jupiter and Saturn, it is likely that, should life exist there, it will
take on a certain forms and characteristics. [00:25:00] But out beyond the pointwhere all volatiles, including nitrogen and methane, freeze solid, it's possible
that the chemistry will be different.
That a different type of life will have emerged there. So while this is not
something that we could be contemplating today, beyond speculation and theory
and some really good science fiction, it is something that we may be
contemplating someday. And there's a long road to hoe before we get to that
point, but That point may someday arrive.
So this is our final installment in the Great Migration, and how human beings
may someday settle the entire solar system. In the not too distant future, I would
like to get into the next logical extension of that, and look at how human beings
may someday travel to other star systems, and what the potential for finding life
might be there.
And what potential there could be for establishing new outposts of human
civilization there. [00:26:00] My personal thanks to everyone who has listened to
this series in its entirety. I hope it's been enlightening, informative, and at the
very least a little entertaining. And so I say to you and all my other listeners,
thank you for listening.
I'm Matt Williams and this has been Stories from Space.