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119-585: The main character, Abelard Lindsay, is born in the ancient lunar colony Mare Serenitatis Circumlunar Corporate Republic , into a family of aristocratic Mechanists, but after being sent to the Shaper's Ring Council, he receives specialized and experimental diplomatic training and gives his loyalty to the Shapers' cause. He, his best friend and fellow Shaper protégé Philip Constantine, and the beautiful and passionate Preservationist Vera Kelland lead an insurgency against

238-476: A magnetic field . However the dynamo ceased to function long ago, and the magnetic field of Mars has largely disappeared, probably due to "loss of core heat, solidification of most of the core, and/or changes in the mantle convection regime." Results from the NASA MAVEN mission show that the atmosphere is removed primarily due to Coronal Mass Ejection events, where outbursts of high-velocity protons from

357-399: A nitrogen / oxygen atmosphere for millions of years. To provide one atmosphere of pressure, roughly 1.1×10 kilograms of gas would be required; or a somewhat lower amount if lower pressure is acceptable. Water could be delivered from the outer solar system. Once this water has been delivered, it would split the water into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen molecules, possibly using

476-469: A non-governmental organization it has conducted two lines of related research to help detect asteroids that could one day strike Earth, and find the technological means to divert their path to avoid such collisions. The foundation's 2013 goal was to design and build a privately financed asteroid-finding space telescope , Sentinel , hoping in 2013 to launch it in 2017–2018. The Sentinel's infrared telescope, once parked in an orbit similar to that of Venus ,

595-603: A 50% return on investment 1,703,000 kg (54,750,000 ozt) of platinum would have to be extracted for every 11,350,000 tons of asteroid ore. This analysis assumes that doubling the supply of platinum to the market (5.13 million ounces in 2014) would have no effect on the price of platinum. A more realistic assumption is that increasing the supply by this amount would reduce the price 30–50%. The financial feasibility of asteroid mining with regards to different technical parameters has been presented by Sonter and more recently by Hein et al. Hein et al. have specifically explored

714-569: A Mechanist, creating a scandal. Constantine is allowed to remain in the Republic because his knowledge is needed to keep the Republic's environment from self-destructing, but Lindsay is exiled to the Mare Tranquilitatis Circumlunar People's Zaibatsu . This lunar colony, which collapsed due to an environmental crisis, has become a refuge for "sundogs", criminals, dissidents and wanderers. There he meets Kitsune,

833-485: A comparison of Δ v requirements for various missions. In terms of propulsion energy requirements, a mission to a near-Earth asteroid compares favorably to alternative mining missions. An example of a potential target for an early asteroid mining expedition is 4660 Nereus , expected to be mainly enstatite . This body has a very low Δ v compared to lifting materials from the surface of the Moon. However, it would require

952-563: A concern, the idea of extracting valuable elements from asteroids and returning them to Earth for profit, or using space-based resources to build solar-power satellites and space habitats , becomes more attractive. Hypothetically, water processed from ice could refuel orbiting propellant depots . Although asteroids and Earth accreted from the same starting materials, Earth's relatively stronger gravity pulled all heavy siderophilic (iron-loving) elements into its core during its molten youth more than four billion years ago. This left

1071-625: A congressional committee acknowledged this renewed interest by holding a hearing on the topic in December 2023 There are also endeavors to make first-time landings on M-type asteroids to mine metals like Iridium which sells for many thousands per ounce. Private company driven efforts have also given rise to a new culture of secrecy obfuscating which asteroids are identified and targeted for mining missions, whereas previously government-led asteroid research and exploration operated with more transparency. As resource depletion on Earth becomes more of

1190-483: A constellation of much smaller spacecraft which is under study as of June 2017 . NASA/ JPL 's NEOCam has been proposed instead. There are four options for mining: Processing in situ for the purpose of extracting high-value minerals will reduce the energy requirements for transporting the materials, although the processing facilities must first be transported to the mining site. In situ mining will involve drilling boreholes and injecting hot fluid/gas and allow

1309-609: A constricting factor on population. Malthus posited this 226 years ago, and no sign has yet emerged of the Malthus effect regarding raw materials. Continued development in asteroid mining techniques and technology may help to increase mineral discoveries. As the cost of extracting mineral resources, especially platinum group metals, on Earth rises, the cost of extracting the same resources from celestial bodies declines due to technological innovations around space exploration. As of September 2016 , there are 711 known asteroids with

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1428-440: A cultural preserve where normal, unmodified human life is preserved. As part of the treatment that restored Lindsay's mind, his original Shaper diplomatic training has been removed. Having returned to a Preservationist world, and now restored to a fully human state, Lindsay decides to break with his past and embrace new dreams. He becomes a post-humanist and returns to Czarina-Kluster to work with Wellspring's 'Lifesiders' clique. In

1547-572: A full issue on terraforming for the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society in 1992. In his book Terraforming: Engineering Planetary Environments (1995), Fogg proposed the following definitions for different aspects related to terraforming: Fogg also devised definitions for candidate planets of varying degrees of human compatibility: Fogg suggests that Mars was a biologically compatible planet in its youth, but

1666-486: A mean diameter of 1 km (0.62 mi) could contain more than two billion metric tons of iron – nickel ore, or two to three times the world production of 2004. The asteroid 16 Psyche is believed to contain 1.7 × 10  kg of nickel–iron, which could supply the world production requirement for several million years. A small portion of the extracted material would also be precious metals. Not all mined materials from asteroids would be cost-effective, especially for

1785-425: A middle ground, such as Christopher McKay , who argues that terraforming is ethically sound only once we have completely assured that an alien planet does not harbor life of its own; but that if it does, we should not try to reshape it to our own use, but we should engineer its environment to artificially nurture the alien life and help it thrive and co-evolve, or even co-exist with humans. Even this would be seen as

1904-496: A much longer round-trip to return the material. Multiple types of asteroids have been identified but the three main types would include the C-type, S-type, and M-type asteroids: A class of "easily retrievable objects" (EROs) was identified by a group of researchers in 2013. Twelve asteroids made up the initially identified group, all of which could be potentially mined with present-day rocket technology. Of 9,000 asteroids searched in

2023-450: A necessary component of any possible colonization strategy based on the principles of microbial symbiosis and their beneficial ecosystem services . As conditions approach that of Earth, plant life could be brought in, and this will accelerate the production of oxygen, theoretically making the planet eventually able to support animal life. In 1985, Martyn Fogg started publishing several articles on terraforming. He also served as editor for

2142-414: A new introduction, "The Circumsolar Frolics": Asteroid mining Asteroid mining is the hypothetical extraction of materials from asteroids and other minor planets , including near-Earth objects . Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight , unreliable identification of asteroids which are suitable for mining, and the challenges of extracting usable material in

2261-481: A photo-catalytic dust, with the hydrogen rapidly being lost to space. At an oxygen pressure of 0.2-0.3 bar , the atmosphere would be breathable and nitrogen may be added as required to allow for plant growth in the presence of nitrates . Temperature management would be required, due to the equilibrium average temperature of ~159 Celsius. However, millions of square kilometers at the poles have an average temperature of 0-50 Celsius, or 32-122 Fahrenheit ( i.e., an area

2380-566: A propellant depot in space by 2020; splitting water from asteroids into hydrogen and oxygen to replenish satellites and spacecraft. Advisers included film director and explorer James Cameron ; investors included Google's chief executive Larry Page , and its executive chairman was Eric Schmidt . Telescope technology proposed to identify and examine candidate asteroids lead to development of the Arkyd family of spacecraft; two prototypes of which were flown in 2015 and 2018. Shortly after, all plans for

2499-457: A published journal article. Planetologist Christopher McKay wrote "Terraforming Mars", a paper for the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society . The paper discussed the prospects of a self-regulating Martian biosphere, and the word "terraforming" has since become the preferred term. In 1984, James Lovelock and Michael Allaby published The Greening of Mars . Lovelock's book was one of

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2618-483: A resurgence of interest, with companies from the United States, Europe, and China renewing their efforts in this ambitious venture. This revival is fueled by a new era of commercial space exploration, significantly driven by SpaceX . Founded by Elon Musk , SpaceX's development of reusable rocket boosters has substantially lowered the cost of space access, reigniting interest and investment in asteroid mining. Even

2737-495: A space environment. Asteroid sample return research missions, such as Hayabusa , Hayabusa2 , and OSIRIS-REx illustrate the challenges of collecting ore from space using current technology. As of 2024, around 127 grams of asteroid material has been successfully returned to Earth from space. Asteroid research missions are complex endeavors and return a tiny amount of material (less than 100 milligrams Hayabusa , 5.4 grams Hayabusa2 , ~121.6 grams OSIRIS-REx ) relative to

2856-713: A startup called AstroForge announced intentions to develop technologies & spacecraft for prospecting, mining, and refining platinum from near-earth asteroids. Currently, the quality of the ore and the consequent cost and mass of equipment required to extract it are unknown and can only be speculated on. Some economic analyses indicate that the cost of returning asteroidal materials to Earth far outweighs their market value, and that asteroid mining will not attract private investment at current commodity prices and space transportation costs. Other studies suggest large profit by using solar power . Potential markets for materials can be identified and profit generated if extraction cost

2975-417: A thicker atmosphere and abundant water that was lost over the course of hundreds of millions of years. The exact mechanism of this loss is still unclear, though three mechanisms, in particular, seem likely: First, whenever surface water is present, carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) reacts with rocks to form carbonates , thus drawing atmosphere off and binding it to the planetary surface. On Earth, this process

3094-650: A value exceeding US$ 100 trillion each. Space ventures are high-risk, with long lead times and heavy capital investment, and that is no different for asteroid-mining projects. These types of ventures could be funded through private investment or through government investment. For a commercial venture, it can be profitable as long as the revenue earned is greater than total costs (costs for extraction and costs for marketing). The costs involving an asteroid-mining venture were estimated to be around US$ 100 billion in 1996. There are six categories of cost considered for an asteroid mining venture: Determining financial feasibility

3213-452: A very long-term choice between terraforming other worlds or allowing all terrestrial life to become extinct . Terraforming totally barren planets, it is asserted, is not morally wrong as it does not affect any other life. The opposing argument posits that terraforming would be an unethical interference in nature , and that given humanity's past treatment of Earth, other planets may be better off without human interference. Still others strike

3332-540: A woman modified by the Shapers to be an ideal prostitute. Apparently a servant of the Geisha Bank , a powerful money center, she in fact rules the bank through the remotely operated body of her now brain-dead predecessor. In his months on the Zaibatsu, Lindsay uses his diplomatic talents to organize a complex fraud involving a fictitious theatrical event and befriends an old Mechanist, Fyodor Ryumin. However, eventually

3451-504: A world of limited resources . Since Earth's resources are finite, the relative abundance of asteroidal ore gives asteroid mining the potential to provide nearly unlimited resources, which could essentially eliminate scarcity for those materials. The idea of exhausting resources is not new. In 1798, Thomas Malthus wrote, because resources are ultimately limited, the exponential growth in a population would result in falls in income per capita until poverty and starvation would result as

3570-433: Is able to sustain life, particularly for humans, is generally the end-goal of the hypothetical process of terraforming. Of particular interest in the context of terraforming is the set of factors that have sustained complex, multicellular animals in addition to simpler organisms on Earth. Research and theory in this regard is a component of planetary science and the emerging discipline of astrobiology . Classifications of

3689-518: Is best represented through net present value . One requirement needed for financial feasibility is a high return on investment estimating around 30%. Example calculation assumes for simplicity that the only valuable material on asteroids is platinum. On August 16, 2016, platinum was valued at $ 1157 per ounce or $ 37,000 per kilogram. At a price of $ 1,340, for a 10% return on investment, 173,400 kg (5,575,000 ozt) of platinum would have to be extracted for every 1,155,000 tons of asteroid ore. For

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3808-472: Is both penetrable and rigid enough for a harpoon to be effective. Due to the distance from Earth to an asteroid selected for mining, the round-trip time for communications will be several minutes or more, except during occasional close approaches to Earth by near-Earth asteroids. Thus any mining equipment will either need to be highly automated, or a human presence will be needed nearby. Humans would also be useful for troubleshooting problems and for maintaining

3927-455: Is brought down. For example, the delivery of multiple tonnes of water to low Earth orbit for rocket fuel preparation for space tourism could generate significant profit if space tourism itself proves profitable. In 1997, it was speculated that a relatively small metallic asteroid with a diameter of 1.6 km (1 mi) contains more than US$ 20 trillion worth of industrial and precious metals. A comparatively small M-type asteroid with

4046-446: Is counteracted when plate tectonics works to cause volcanic eruptions that vent carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere. On Mars, the lack of such tectonic activity worked to prevent the recycling of gases locked up in sediments. Second, the lack of a magnetosphere around Mars may have allowed the solar wind to gradually erode the atmosphere. Convection within the core of Mars, which is made mostly of iron , originally generated

4165-586: Is designed to help identify threatening asteroids by cataloging 90% of those with diameters larger than 140 metres (460 ft), as well as surveying smaller Solar System objects. After NASA terminated their $ 30 million funding agreement with the B612 Foundation in October 2015 and the private fundraising did not achieve its goals, the Foundation eventually opted for an alternative approach using

4284-436: Is known as pantropy . There is a philosophical debate within biology and ecology as to whether terraforming other worlds is an ethical endeavor. From the point of view of a cosmocentric ethic , this involves balancing the need for the preservation of human life against the intrinsic value of existing planetary ecologies. Lucianne Walkowicz has even called terraforming a "planetary-scale strip mining operation". On

4403-400: Is not now in any of these three categories, because it can only be terraformed with greater difficulty. Planetary habitability, broadly defined as the capacity for an astronomical body to sustain life, requires that various geophysical , geochemical , and astrophysical criteria must be met before the surface of such a body is considered habitable. Modifying a planetary surface such that it

4522-494: Is only 1.1% that of Earth's, and, being closer to the Sun, any atmosphere would be stripped rapidly unless it can be protected from the solar wind. It is conjectured that Mercury's magnetic field should be much stronger, up to 30% of Earth's, if it weren't being suppressed by certain solar wind feedback effects. If some means of shielding Mercury from solar wind by placing an artificial magnetic shield at Mercury-Sun L 1 (similar to

4641-522: Is orbital economics, in particular the change in velocity ( Δ v ) and travel time to and from the target. More of the extracted native material must be expended as propellant in higher Δ v trajectories, thus less returned as payload. Direct Hohmann trajectories are faster than Hohmann trajectories assisted by planetary and/or lunar flybys, which in turn are faster than those of the Interplanetary Transport Network , but

4760-405: Is right: he cannot bring himself to undergo the transformation. At that moment, an alien Presence, who had followed Vera Constantine since her mission in an alien embassy, reveals itself. The being explains that it has been devoted to exploring and exulting in the variety of experiences of the universe, and invites Lindsay to join it. Lindsay accepts and is transformed into a bodiless form, to explore

4879-475: Is that its atmosphere is simply far too thick: the high atmospheric pressure would result in a "atmosphere of nearly pure molecular oxygen" at high pressure. This volatile combination could not be sustained through time. Any carbon that had been reduced by photosynthesis would be quickly oxidized in this atmosphere through combustion, "short-circuiting" the terraforming process. Sagan also visualized making Mars habitable for human life in an article published in

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4998-507: Is therefore untenable, as he later conceded. An additional step noted by Martin Beech includes the injection of water and/or hydrogen into the planetary atmosphere; this step follows after sequestering CO 2 and reducing the mass of the atmosphere. In order to combine hydrogen with O 2 produced by other means, an estimated 4*10 kg of hydrogen is necessary; this may need to be mined from another source, such as Uranus or Neptune. Although

5117-689: Is unclear what the result of heating this up would be. Many proposals for planetary engineering involve the use of genetically engineered bacteria. As synthetic biology matures over the coming decades it may become possible to build designer organisms from scratch that directly manufacture desired products efficiently. Lisa Nip, Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Media Lab 's Molecular Machines group, said that by synthetic biology, scientists could genetically engineer humans, plants and bacteria to create Earth-like conditions on another planet. Gary King, microbiologist at Louisiana State University studying

5236-643: The Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the surface environment of objects in the Solar System. The low gravity of Mars suggests that these impacts could have ejected much of the Martian atmosphere into deep space. Terraforming Mars would entail two major interlaced changes: building the atmosphere and heating it. A thicker atmosphere of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide would trap incoming solar radiation . Because

5355-567: The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) announced the Robotic Asteroid Prospector project , which would examine and evaluate the feasibility of asteroid mining in terms of means, methods, and systems. The TransAstra Corporation develops technology to locate and harvest asteroids using a family of spacecraft built around a patented approach using concentrated solar energy known as optical mining. In 2022,

5474-466: The NEO database, these twelve could all be brought into an Earth-accessible orbit by changing their velocity by less than 500 meters per second (1,800 km/h; 1,100 mph). The dozen asteroids range in size from 2 to 20 meters (10 to 70 ft). The B612 Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation with headquarters in the United States, dedicated to protecting Earth from asteroid strikes . As

5593-454: The introduced species , the importation of microbial life could begin. As conditions approach that of Earth, plant life could also be brought in. This would accelerate the production of oxygen, which theoretically would make the planet eventually able to support animal life. In many respects, Mars is the most Earth-like planet in the Solar System. It is thought that Mars once had a more Earth-like environment early in its history, with

5712-483: The origin of an ecosystem . In the context of space exploration, Haynes describes ecopoiesis as the "fabrication of a sustainable ecosystem on a currently lifeless, sterile planet". Fogg defines ecopoiesis as a type of planetary engineering and is one of the first stages of terraformation. This primary stage of ecosystem creation is usually restricted to the initial seeding of microbial life. A 2019 opinion piece by Lopez, Peixoto and Rosado has reintroduced microbiology as

5831-413: The planetary equilibrium temperature ; terraforming concepts may include modifying temperature by methods including solar reflectors to increase or decrease the amount of solar illumination, and hence modify temperature. All known life requires water; thus the capacity for planetary body to sustain water is a critical aspect of habitability. The " Habitable Zone " of a solar system is generally defined as

5950-612: The triple point of water (611.7 Pa), water cannot be liquid at any temperature. Human survival requires a still-higher pressure of at least 6.3 kPa, the Armstrong limit ; below this pressure, exposed body fluids boil at body temperature. Furthermore, a thick atmosphere protects the surface from cosmic rays . A thin atmosphere could be thickened using gases produced locally (e.g. the Moon could be given an atmosphere of oxygen by reducing lunar rock ) or gases could be imported from elsewhere. Once conditions become more suitable for life of

6069-402: The "world house" concept, para-terraforming involves the construction of a habitable enclosure on a planet that encompasses most of the planet's usable area. The enclosure would consist of a transparent roof held one or more kilometers above the surface, pressurized with a breathable atmosphere, and anchored with tension towers and cables at regular intervals. The world house concept is similar to

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6188-400: The Arkyd space telescope technology were abandoned; the company was wound down, its hardware auctioned off, and remaining assets acquired by ConsenSys , a blockchain company. A year after the appearance of Planetary Resources, similar asteroid mining plans were announced in 2013 by Deep Space Industries ; a company established by David Gump, Rick Tumlinson , and others. The initial goal

6307-803: The Interdict and bring back samples of Earth's abyssal life, providing the breakthroughs that make the Europa project a success. As the Lifesiders transform themselves into fish-like forms capable of survival in Europa's oceans, Lindsay visits the now-cured Philip Constantine. Constantine believes that Lindsay will never see Europa, that he will leave in the end rather than see his cause through to fruition, just as he always had. He also reveals that Vera Constantine's DNA comes as much from Lindsay as Vera Kelland. Philip reconciles with Abelard, then commits suicide. When Lindsay returns to Europa, he finds that Philip

6426-536: The Investors. The Investor Peace does not last forever, though, and tensions between Shapers and Mechanists eventually start to rise when the Investors play the factions against one another. Ultimately Philip Constantine rises to power and takes control of the Ring Council, ousting Mavride's and Lindsay's pro- détente faction. Lindsay runs away from what he sees as a hopeless battle, but Nora decides to stay in

6545-472: The Moon. One proposal for terraforming Ceres would involve heating it (using orbital mirrors, detonating thermonuclear devices or colliding small asteroids with Ceres), creating an atmosphere and deep ocean. However, this appears to be based on a misconception that Ceres' surface is icy in a similar way to the gas giant moons. In reality, Ceres' surface is "a layer of mixed ice, silicates and light strong phases best matched by hydrated salts and clathrates". It

6664-535: The Rings, where they had built their lives and family, to fight Constantine and his militant government. Lindsay escapes to the Mechanist cartels in the asteroid belt, where Kitsune has again secretly taken power. There Lindsay works ceaselessly for decades to bring about the détente he believes will reunite him with Mavrides. Using a recording of an Investor's ship queen involved in some taboo activities to blackmail

6783-567: The Sky told stories about the conceived dangers, motives, and experiences of mining asteroids. At the same time, many researchers in academia speculated about the profits that could be gained from asteroid mining, but they lacked the technology to seriously pursue the idea. In 1969, the Apollo 11 Moon Landing spurred a wave of scientific interest in human space activity far beyond the Earth's orbit. As

6902-456: The Sun impact the atmosphere. Mars does still retain a limited magnetosphere that covers approximately 40% of its surface. Rather than uniformly covering and protecting the atmosphere from solar wind, however, the magnetic field takes the form of a collection of smaller, umbrella-shaped fields, mainly clustered together around the planet's southern hemisphere. Finally, between approximately 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, asteroid impacts during

7021-427: The Sun in space. In the same decade, NASA was trying to establish what materials in asteroids could be valuable for extraction. These materials included free-metals, volatiles, and bulk dirt. After a burst of interest in the 2010s, asteroid mining ambitions shifted to more distant long-term goals and some 'asteroid mining' companies have pivoted to more general-purpose propulsion technology. The 2020s have brought

7140-409: The ability of water (possibly saline, or under high pressure in the ocean bottom) to be available in liquid form. This may constitute a bounding range for the development of life on other planets, in the context of terraforming. For Earth, the temperature is set by the equilibrium of incident solar radiation absorbed and outgoing infrared radiation, including the effect of greenhouse gasses in modifying

7259-532: The agency and some of its research partners created an software called DTA GView − a ' Google Maps of genomes ', in which genomes of several organisms can be pulled up on the program to immediately show a list of known genes and where they are located in the genome. According to Alicia Jackson, deputy director of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office , they have developed a "technological toolkit to transform not just hostile places here on Earth, but to go into space not just to visit, but to stay". Also known as

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7378-460: The alien, Lindsay contributes to the creation of Czarina-Kluster, neither Shaper nor Mechanist, which quickly becomes one of the richest and most powerful states in the solar system. Lindsay's partner, Wellspring, plans to use the colony to promote his post-humanist ideology, while Lindsay himself seeks to bring Nora to the new colony. However, Constantine discovers Mavride's plan to defect and forces her to kill herself. Consumed with hatred, Lindsay for

7497-597: The assassin. Lindsay manages to escape with a group of Mechanist pirates, in the process aiding Kitsune to take power of the Geisha Bank openly. Lindsay joins a ship called the Red Consensus , which doubles as the nation-state of the Fortuna Miners' Democracy , after the failure of the previously independent asteroid mining Mechanist cartel. The FMD, financed by more wealthy Mechanists cartels, annexes

7616-635: The asteroid Esairs XII , home to the Mavrides family, a small shaper clan. Lindsay meets Nora Mavrides, a fellow diplomat. Nora informs Abelard that the subjects of the diplomatic training are in disgrace due to the high incidence of treason and defection from their ranks. The two of them work to promote peaceful coexistence between the Shaper militants and the Mechanist pirates, but after several months of conflict, espionage, murders and sabotages, open fighting breaks out. Mavrides and Lindsay, now lovers, eventually murder their companions to save one another. Before

7735-509: The asteroid's life-support systems shut down after the battle, the alien Investors arrive. Peace finally comes to the Schismatrix after the aliens arrive. The alien Investors are obsessed with trade and wealth, and at first encourage humanity to focus on business instead of war. Trade flourishes and the Shapers and Mechanists put their differences aside. Lindsay and Mavrides become powerful Shaper leaders, thanks to their early contact with

7854-505: The atmosphere, using orbiting mirrors to reflect more sunlight onto the planet, or lowering the albedo of the planet. Conversely, a planet too hot for liquid water could be cooled down by removing greenhouse gases (if these are present), placing a sunshade in the L 1 point to reduce sunlight reaching the planet, or increasing the albedo. Atmospheric pressure is another issue: various celestial bodies including Mars, Mercury and most moons have lower pressure than Earth. At pressures below

7973-404: The body, but once in place, the ore can be moved about more readily due to the lack of gravity. However, no techniques for refining ore in zero gravity currently exist. Docking with an asteroid might be performed using a harpoon-like process, where a projectile would penetrate the surface to serve as an anchor; then an attached cable would be used to winch the vehicle to the surface, if the asteroid

8092-522: The case where platinum is brought from space to Earth and estimate that economically viable asteroid mining for this specific case would be rather challenging. Decreases in the price of space access matter. The start of operational use of the low-cost-per-kilogram-in-orbit Spacex Falcon Heavy launch vehicle in 2018 is projected by astronomer Martin Elvis to have increased the extent of economically minable near-Earth asteroids from hundreds to thousands. With

8211-429: The cations Mg , Ca , K and Na and the anion Cl . Many of these elements may undergo biologically facilitated oxidation or reduction to produce usable metabolic energy. Terraforming a planet would involve making it fit the habitability requirements listed in the previous section. For example, a planet may be too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface. Its temperature could be raised by adding greenhouse gases to

8330-410: The concept of a domed habitat , but one which covers all (or most) of the planet. Potential targets for paraterraforming include Mercury, the Moon, Ceres and the gas giant moons. It has also been suggested that instead of or in addition to terraforming a hostile environment humans might adapt to these places by the use of genetic engineering , biotechnology and cybernetic enhancements . This

8449-491: The criteria of habitability can be varied, but it is generally agreed upon that the presence of water, non-extreme temperatures, and an energy source put broad constraints on habitability. Other requirements for habitability have been defined as the presence of raw materials, a solvent, and clement conditions, or elemental requirements (such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur), and reasonable physiochemical conditions. When applied to organisms present on

8568-608: The crust depleted of such valuable elements until a rain of asteroid impacts re-infused the depleted crust with metals like gold , cobalt , iron , manganese , molybdenum , nickel , osmium , palladium , platinum , rhenium , rhodium , ruthenium and tungsten (some flow from core to surface does occur, e.g. at the Bushveld Igneous Complex , a famously rich source of platinum-group metals). Today, these metals are mined from Earth's crust, and they are essential for economic and technological progress. Hence,

8687-474: The decade continued, more and more academic interest surrounded the topic of asteroid mining. A good deal of serious academic consideration was aimed at mining asteroids located closer to Earth than the main asteroid belt. In particular, the asteroid groups Apollo and Amor were considered. These groups were chosen not only because of their proximity to Earth but also because many at the time thought they were rich in raw materials that could be refined. Despite

8806-407: The dwarf planet Ceres . The moons are covered in ice, so heating them would make some of this ice sublimate into an atmosphere of water vapour, ammonia and other gases. For Jupiter's moons, the intense radiation around Jupiter would cause radiolysis of water vapour, splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen. The former would be rapidly lost to space, leaving behind the oxygen (this already occurs on

8925-403: The earth, including humans, these constraints can substantially narrow. In its astrobiology roadmap, NASA has defined the principal habitability criteria as "extended regions of liquid water, conditions favorable for the assembly of complex organic molecules , and energy sources to sustain metabolism ." The general temperature range for all life on Earth is -20°C to 122°C, set primarily by

9044-662: The effects of climate change , an interventionist program might be designed to return Earth to pre-industrial climate parameters. In order to achieve this, multiple approaches have been proposed, such as the management of solar radiation , the sequestration of carbon dioxide, and the design and release of climate altering genetically engineered organisms. These are typically referred to as geoengineering or climate engineering , rather than terraforming. Other possible candidates for terraforming (possibly only partial or paraterraforming) include large moons of Jupiter or Saturn ( Europa , Ganymede , Callisto , Enceladus , Titan ), and

9163-437: The energy source to keep the water liquid is from tidal heating , rather than solar energy. On the most fundamental level, the only absolute requirement of life may be thermodynamic disequilibrium , or the presence of Gibbs Free Energy . It has been argued that habitability can be conceived of as a balance between life's demand for energy and the capacity for the environment to provide such energy. For humans, energy comes in

9282-443: The enormous infrastructure investment required, is unknown. From the astrobiological perspective, asteroid prospecting could provide scientific data for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence ( SETI ). Some astrophysicists have suggested that if advanced extraterrestrial civilizations employed asteroid mining long ago, the hallmarks of these activities might be detectable. An important factor to consider in target selection

9401-551: The environment of Earth to make it habitable for humans to live on. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science . Carl Sagan , an astronomer , proposed the planetary engineering of Venus in 1961, which is considered one of the first accounts of the concept. The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story (" Collision Orbit ") published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction . Even if

9520-471: The environment of a planet could be altered deliberately, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary environment that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified. While Venus, Earth , Mars , and even the Moon have been studied in relation to the subject, Mars is usually considered to be the most likely candidate for terraforming. Much study has been done concerning the possibility of heating

9639-591: The equipment. On the other hand, multi-minute communications delays have not prevented the success of robotic exploration of Mars , and automated systems would be much less expensive to build and deploy. On April 24, 2012 at the Seattle, Washington Museum of Flight , a plan was announced by billionaire entrepreneurs to mine asteroids for their resources. The company was called Planetary Resources and its founders included aerospace entrepreneurs Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis . The company announced plans to create

9758-543: The first time confronts his former friend directly, arranging a duel with him using an ancient alien artifact called the Arena. While Lindsay wins, the Arena leaves both him and Constantine catatonic. Years after the duel, Lindsay wakes up on his old home, now renamed the Neotenic Cultural Republic . Constantine's militant Shaperism has been replaced by a Preservationist government, dedicated to remaining

9877-492: The first to describe a novel method of warming Mars, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are added to the atmosphere to produce a strong greenhouse effect. Motivated by Lovelock's book, biophysicist Robert Haynes worked behind the scenes to promote terraforming, and contributed the neologism Ecopoiesis , forming the word from the Greek οἶκος , oikos , "house", and ποίησις , poiesis , "production". Ecopoiesis refers to

9996-826: The form of sugars, fats, and proteins provided by consuming plants and animals, necessitating in turn that a habitable planet for humans can sustain such organisms. Much of earth's biomass (~60%) relies on photosynthesis for an energy source, while a further ~40% is chemotropic . For the development of life on other planetary bodies, chemical energy may have been critical, while for sustaining life on another planetary body in our solar system, sufficiently high solar energy may also be necessary for phototrophic organisms. On Earth, life generally requires six elements in high abundance: carbon , hydrogen , nitrogen , oxygen , phosphorus , and sulfur . These elements are considered "essential" for all known life and plentiful within biological systems. Additional elements crucial to life include

10115-491: The fraud takes on a life of its own, and the new-formed Kabuki Intrasolar becomes a legitimate artistic and business venture. Lindsay cannot remain to enjoy the profits, though: Constantine has in the meantime overthrown the Corporate Republic's government. Constantine has abandoned Preservationism to become a Shaper militant, and sends an assassin to present a stark choice: become Constantine's pawn or be killed by

10234-822: The geologic history of Earth may very well set the stage for a future of asteroid mining. In 2006, the Keck Observatory announced that the binary Jupiter trojan 617 Patroclus , and possibly large numbers of other Jupiter trojans, are likely extinct comets and consist largely of water ice. Similarly, Jupiter-family comets, and possibly near-Earth asteroids that are extinct comets, might also provide water. The process of in-situ resource utilization —using materials native to space for propellant, thermal management, tankage, radiation shielding, and other high-mass components of space infrastructure —could lead to radical reductions in its cost. Although whether these cost reductions could be achieved, and if achieved would offset

10353-406: The gravity on Earth's Moon is too low to hold an atmosphere for geological spans of time, if given one, it would retain it for spans of time that are long compared to human lifespans. Landis and others have thus proposed that it could be feasible to terraform the moon, although not all agree with that proposal. Landis estimates that a 1 PSI atmosphere of pure oxygen on the Moon would require on

10472-487: The high surface temperatures of Venus, and thus be sequestered in the form of "graphite or some involatile form of carbon" on the planet's surface. However, later discoveries about the conditions on Venus made this particular approach impossible. One problem is that the clouds of Venus are composed of a highly concentrated sulfuric acid solution. Even if atmospheric algae could thrive in the hostile environment of Venus's upper atmosphere, an even more insurmountable problem

10591-546: The implementation of the concept. The astronomer Carl Sagan proposed the planetary engineering of Venus in an article published in the journal Science in 1961. Sagan imagined seeding the atmosphere of Venus with algae , which would convert water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide into organic compounds . As this process removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect would be reduced until surface temperatures dropped to "comfortable" levels. The resulting plant matter, Sagan proposed, would be pyrolyzed by

10710-435: The increased availability of several kilometers per second of delta-v that Falcon Heavy provides, it increases the number of NEAs accessible from 3 percent to around 45 percent. Terraforming Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere , temperature , surface topography or ecology of a planet , moon , or other body to be similar to

10829-432: The infinite mysteries of the universe for eternity. Abelard Lindsays' travels in the book mirrors the expanding colonisation of the Solar System. Dave Langford reviewed Schismatrix for White Dwarf #77, and stated that "Besides being highly exciting and crammed with ingenious ideas, Schismatrix paints a moving Big Picture of humanity getting a grip on its own evolution. Lindsay, however unheroically, helps nudge it

10948-463: The injection of floating, photosynthetic bacteria into the Venusian atmosphere to reduce CO 2 to organic form , and increase the atmospheric concentration of O 2 in the atmosphere. This concept, however, was based in a flawed 1960s understanding of Venus's atmosphere as much lower pressure; in reality, the Venusian atmospheric pressure (93 bars) is far higher than early estimates. Sagan's idea

11067-402: The journal Icarus , "Planetary Engineering on Mars" (1973). Three years later, NASA addressed the issue of planetary engineering officially in a study, but used the term "planetary ecosynthesis" instead. The study concluded that it was possible for Mars to support life and be made into a habitable planet . The first conference session on terraforming, then referred to as "Planetary Modeling",

11186-404: The moon would require "about 100 comets the size of Halley's." Mercury would be difficult to terraform. Beech states "There seems little prospect of terraforming Mercury such that any animals or plants might exist there," and suggests that its primary use in a terraforming project would be as a mining source for minerals. Nevertheless, terraforming has been considered. Mercury's magnetic field

11305-406: The moons to a minor extent, giving them thin atmospheres of oxygen). For Saturn's moons, the water vapour could be split by using orbital mirrors to focus sunlight, causing photolysis . The ammonia could be converted to nitrogen by introducing bacteria such as Nitrosomonas , Pseudomonas and Clostridium , resulting in an Earth-like nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. This atmosphere would protect

11424-536: The most extreme organisms on Earth, notes that "synthetic biology has given us a remarkable toolkit that can be used to manufacture new kinds of organisms specially suited for the systems we want to plan for" and outlines the prospects for terraforming, saying "we'll want to investigate our chosen microbes, find the genes that code for the survival and terraforming properties that we want (like radiation and drought resistance ), and then use that knowledge to genetically engineer specifically Martian-designed microbes". He sees

11543-441: The order of two hundred trillion tons of oxygen, and suggests it could be produced by reducing the oxygen from an amount of lunar rock equivalent to a cube about fifty kilometers on an edge. Alternatively, he suggests that the water content of "fifty to a hundred comets" the size of Halley's comet would do the job, "assuming that the water doesn't splash away when the comets hit the moon." Likewise, Benford calculates that terraforming

11662-419: The planet and altering its atmosphere, and NASA has even hosted debates on the subject. Several potential methods for the terraforming of Mars may be within humanity's technological capabilities, but according to Martin Beech, the economic attitude of preferring short-term profits over long-term investments will not support a terraforming project. The long timescales and practicality of terraforming are also

11781-418: The planet's 450 °C (842 °F) surface temperature. These goals are closely interrelated because Venus's extreme temperature may result from the greenhouse effect caused by its dense atmosphere. Venus's atmosphere currently contains little oxygen, so an additional step would be to inject breathable O 2 into the atmosphere. An early proposal for such a process comes from Carl Sagan , who suggested

11900-474: The platinum from a 30-meter-long (98 ft) asteroid could be worth US$ 25–50 billion, an economist remarked any outside source of precious metals could lower prices sufficiently to possibly doom the venture by rapidly increasing the available supply of such metals. Development of an infrastructure for altering asteroid orbits could offer a large return on investment . Scarcity is a fundamental economic problem of humans having seemingly unlimited wants in

12019-473: The potential return of economic amounts of material to Earth. For potential return to Earth, platinum is considered very rare in terrestrial geologic formations and therefore is potentially worth bringing some quantity for terrestrial use. Nickel, on the other hand, is quite abundant on Earth and being mined in many terrestrial locations, so the high cost of asteroid mining may not make it economically viable. Although Planetary Resources indicated in 2012 that

12138-452: The pro-terraforming side of the argument, there are those like Robert Zubrin , Martyn J. Fogg , Richard L. S. Taylor, and the late Carl Sagan who believe that it is humanity's moral obligation to make other worlds suitable for human life , as a continuation of the history of life-transforming the environments around it on Earth. They also point out that Earth would eventually be destroyed if nature takes its course , so that humanity faces

12257-516: The project's biggest bottleneck in the ability to genetically tweak and tailor the right microbes, estimating that this hurdle could take "a decade or more" to be solved. He also notes that it would be best to develop "not a single kind of microbe but a suite of several that work together". DARPA is researching the use of photosynthesizing plants, bacteria, and algae grown directly on the Mars surface that could warm up and thicken its atmosphere. In 2015

12376-426: The proposal for Mars), then Mercury's magnetic field could possibly grow in intensity to a point where Mercury's magnetic field could be self-sustaining provided the field wasn't made to "stall" by another solar event. Despite being much smaller than Mars, Mercury has an escape velocity only slightly less than that of Mars due to its higher density and could, if a magnetosphere prevents atmospheric stripping, hold

12495-453: The raised temperature would add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the two processes would augment each other. Carbon dioxide alone would not suffice to sustain a temperature above the freezing point of water, so a mixture of specialized greenhouse molecules might be manufactured. Terraforming Venus requires two major changes: removing most of the planet's dense 9 MPa (1,300 psi; 89 atm) carbon dioxide atmosphere, and reducing

12614-440: The reduction in transfer time comes at the cost of increased Δ v requirements. The Easily Recoverable Object (ERO) subclass of Near-Earth asteroids are considered likely candidates for early mining activity. Their low Δ v makes them suitable for use in extracting construction materials for near-Earth space-based facilities, greatly reducing the economic cost of transporting supplies into Earth orbit. The table above shows

12733-615: The region in which stable surface liquid water may be present on a planetary body. The boundaries of the Habitable Zone were originally defined by water loss by photolysis and hydrogen escape, setting a limit on how close a planet may be to its orbited star, and the prevalence of CO 2 clouds that would increase albedo , setting an outer boundary on stable liquid water. These constraints are applicable in particular to Earth-like planets, and would not as easily apply to moons like Europa and Enceladus with ice-covered oceans, where

12852-586: The right way. Excellent sense-of-wonder stuff." J. Michael Caparula reviewed Schismatrix in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 80. Caparula described it as "a jolting, kaleidoscopic space saga that O.D.'s on imagination". Additional short stories set in the Shaper/Mechanist universe were originally collected in the 1989 short story collection Crystal Express , and republished with Schismatrix as Schismatrix Plus (1995) with

12971-453: The rulers of the republic, who use Mechanist technology to prolong their lives. The three of them influence the younger generation towards the Shapers' cause in their pursuit of Preservationism, a movement devoted to the preservation of Earth-bound human culture. Kelland and Lindsay agree to kill themselves as a political statement, but Lindsay reneges on his suicide pact after Kelland is dead. Constantine attempts to kill Lindsay but instead kills

13090-537: The size and expense of these projects ($ 300 million Hayabusa , $ 800 million Hayabusa2 , $ 1.16 billion OSIRIS-REx ). The history of asteroid mining is brief but features a gradual development. Ideas of which asteroids to prospect, how to gather resources, and what to do with those resources have evolved over the decades. Before 1970, asteroid mining existed largely within the realm of science fiction. Stories such as Worlds of If , Scavengers in Space , and Miners in

13209-521: The size of Mexico at each pole with habitable temperatures). The total habitable area could be even larger if the planetary albedo were increased from 0.12 to ~0.6, potentially increasing the habitable area. Roy proposes that the temperature could be further managed by decreasing the solar flux at Mercury to near the terrestrial value by solar sails reflecting sunlight. He calculates that 16 to 17 million sails, each with an area of one square kilometer would be needed. It has been recently proposed that due to

13328-443: The subject of debate. As the subject has gained traction, research has expanded to other possibilities including biological terraforming, para-terraforming, and modifying humans to better suit the environments of planets and moons . Despite this, questions still remain in areas relating to the ethics , logistics , economics , politics , and methodology of altering the environment of an extraterrestrial world, presenting issues to

13447-645: The surface from Jupiter's radiation, but it would also be possible to clear said radiation using orbiting tethers or radio waves. Challenges to terraforming the moons include their high amounts of ice and their low gravity. If all of the ice were fully melted, it would result in deep moon-spanning oceans, meaning any settlements would have to be floating (unless some of the ice was allowed to remain, to serve as land). Low gravity would cause atmospheric escape over time and may cause problems for human health . However, atmospheric escape would take place over spans of time that are long compared to human lifespans, as with

13566-489: The useful material to react or melt with the solvent and extract the solute. Due to the weak gravitational fields of asteroids, any activities, like drilling, will cause large disturbances and form dust clouds. These might be confined by some dome or bubble barrier. Or else some means of rapidly dissipating any dust could be provided. Mining operations require special equipment to handle the extraction and processing of ore in outer space. The machinery will need to be anchored to

13685-466: The wave of interest, many in the space science community were aware of how little was known about asteroids and encouraged a more gradual and systematic approach to asteroid mining. Academic interest in asteroid mining continued into the 1980s. The idea of targeting the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups still had some popularity. However, by the late 1980s the interest in the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups

13804-731: The years during Lindsays' catatonia, the expansion of settlements throughout the Solar System has seen an economy in huge surplus; with abundant wealth, expensive and prolonged terraforming efforts are first being considered. While Wellspring seeks to terraform Mars, Lindsay attempts to create an abyssal ecology on Europa . Constantine's Shaper family has been disgraced by Constantine's defeat, and Lindsay manages to convert them to his cause, even Constantine's "daughter" Vera (created from DNA taken from Vera Kelland decades before). As time goes on, eventually Czarina-Kluster, in its turn, faces social collapse. With his Lifesiders faction's research still in its infancy, Lindsay and Vera Constantine secretly break

13923-463: Was being replaced with interest in the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Organizations like NASA begin to formulate ideas of how to process materials in space and what to do with the materials that are hypothetically gathered from space. New reasons emerge for pursuing asteroid mining. These reasons tend to revolve around environmental concerns, such as fears over humans over-consuming the Earth's natural resources and trying to capture energy from

14042-590: Was organized that same year. In March 1979, NASA engineer and author James Oberg organized the First Terraforming Colloquium, a special session at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. Oberg popularized the terraforming concepts discussed at the colloquium to the general public in his book New Earths (1981). Not until 1982 was the word terraforming used in the title of

14161-696: Was to visit asteroids with prospecting and sample return spacecraft in 2015 and 2016; and begin mining within ten years. Deep Space Industries later pivoted to developing & selling the propulsion systems that would enable its envisioned asteroid operations, including a successful line of water-propellant thrusters in 2018; and in 2019 was acquired by Bradford Space, a company with a portfolio of earth orbit systems and space flight components. At ISDC -San Diego 2013, Kepler Energy and Space Engineering (KESE, llc) announced its intention to send an automated mining system to collect 40 tons of asteroid regolith and return to low Earth orbit by 2020. In September 2012,

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