Ceres

Hey all

I've put some ramblings on the topic of colonizing Ceres on my homepage, at
http://www.daveboll.com/ceres.html. Check it out - thoughtful criticism
appreciated 8)

----
Dave Boll
http://www.daveboll.com/

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 13:11:10 -0700, "Dave & Janelle"
wrote:

I've put some ramblings on the topic of colonizing Ceres on my homepage, at
http://www.daveboll.com/ceres.html. Check it out - thoughtful criticism
appreciated 8)

I doubt the gravity on Ceres is enough to sustain human life, so I'm
inclined to think using it for material to build space habitats would
be a better way to go.

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In article , says...
I've put some ramblings on the topic of colonizing Ceres on my homepage, at
http://www.daveboll.com/ceres.html. Check it out - thoughtful criticism
appreciated 8)

"Obviously, the hard part would be getting the funding and land
ownership model right."

Obviously. That's precisely where extraterrestrial colonisation has been
going wrong all these years.

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ICQ 40628243 Tel 07092057581 Fax 07092308800

"Russell Wallace" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 13:11:10 -0700, "Dave & Janelle"
wrote:

I doubt the gravity on Ceres is enough to sustain human life, so I'm
inclined to think using it for material to build space habitats would
be a better way to go.


I'd guess you're right (depending on definition of "sustain" 8)) - though
unfortunately, we have no data either way. I cover some of these issues at
www.daveboll.com/partg.html

But - building a artificial-G habitat on Ceres would certainly be possible,
and not fundamentally harder than it would be in space, except for the fact
that Ceres is a long way away.
---
Dave Boll
http://www.daveboll.com/

In message , Dave & Janelle
writes

"Russell Wallace" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 13:11:10 -0700, "Dave & Janelle"
wrote:

I doubt the gravity on Ceres is enough to sustain human life, so I'm
inclined to think using it for material to build space habitats would
be a better way to go.


I'd guess you're right (depending on definition of "sustain" 8)) - though
unfortunately, we have no data either way. I cover some of these issues at
www.daveboll.com/partg.html

But - building a artificial-G habitat on Ceres would certainly be possible,
and not fundamentally harder than it would be in space, except for the fact
that Ceres is a long way away.

I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't thrive indefinitely in low
gravity, but most SF stories that look at this idea assume that someone
raised in low gravity won't be able to survive on Earth, and perhaps
that after years of adaptation you wouldn't either. No-one's been in
microgravity for ten years, for instance. One year, OK.
That's something the mouse experiment might not even be able to tell
you, unless it acts at a fundamental level like the effect of gravity on
cell membranes, because an animal weighing a few grams doesn't have the
problems of gravity pulling on every organ (especially the bones, and
pumping blood two feet or so vertically).
Do you really want to do that to your descendants?
--
Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.

"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote
in message ...

No-one's been in
microgravity for ten years, for instance. One year, OK.
That's something the mouse experiment might not even be able to tell
you, unless it acts at a fundamental level like the effect of gravity on
cell membranes, because an animal weighing a few grams doesn't have the
problems of gravity pulling on every organ (especially the bones, and
pumping blood two feet or so vertically).

True - but the big thing is, the mice will go through puberty under Mars-G,
and *that* (going from birth to young adult under Mars G) is something no
mammal has ever done. We'd almost be guaranteed of learning something.

Do you really want to do that to your descendants?

Well... perhaps not. But, whether or not I do, you know someone will do it,
probably within the next century or two.

Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who can count in base 2,
and those who can't! 8)

---
Dave Boll
http://www.daveboll.com/

In message , Dave & Janelle
writes

"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote
in message ...

No-one's been in
microgravity for ten years, for instance. One year, OK.
That's something the mouse experiment might not even be able to tell
you, unless it acts at a fundamental level like the effect of gravity on
cell membranes, because an animal weighing a few grams doesn't have the
problems of gravity pulling on every organ (especially the bones, and
pumping blood two feet or so vertically).

True - but the big thing is, the mice will go through puberty under Mars-G,
and *that* (going from birth to young adult under Mars G) is something no
mammal has ever done. We'd almost be guaranteed of learning something.

Absolutely.


Do you really want to do that to your descendants?

Well... perhaps not. But, whether or not I do, you know someone will do it,
probably within the next century or two.

Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who can count in base 2,
and those who can't! 8)

Nice! I did a search for "rabbit arithmetic" which I had hoped was my
own invention, and it's an old phrase of New Zealand farmers. Two times
three equals nine million, which is the theoretical number of offspring
from two rabbits in three years.
http://www.ecotours.co.nz/Brian/wildlife/kaikoura/christchurch.htm
--
Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.