A Greenhouse on Mars. Peter Westermann

Transcription

1 A Greenhouse on Mars Peter Westermann

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3 The screwdriver paradox

4 The advanced Alien smart watch what ridgid claws can handle

5 Scientific analyses of science fiction

6 Cross-flow between science and science fiction Science faction Knowledge (facts) Technology Technological timelines Science fiction Inspiration (imagination) Visualization Innovation At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers Dan Novy and Sophia Brueckner teach a class called "Pulp to Prototype," where science fiction is required reading to get students thinking about possibilities that seem far-fetched.

7 Science fiction and innovation

8 Heinlein, Robert 1948Space Cadet Sealed frozen meals for use in high-frequency (ie. Microwave) oven, in patrol vessel Orwell, George Victory gin; party eats well; shock of real chocolate and proper coffee Tenn, William 1951The Jester Flavor-fix rheostat: food preparation Tenn, William 1951The Jester Vocalex kitchen - voice activated kitchen Asimov, Isaac 1951Foundation Trantor: a planet set aside for food production for other worlds Asimov, Isaac Pohl, Frederick 1952Foundation and Empire Flavor-capsule: flavours (textures?) water Chicken Little: lab grown chicken kept 'alive' which pieces can be cut off (one of earliest refs 1952The Space Merchants to lab grown meat?) Heinlein, Robert 1953Farmer in the sky Synthosteak, soup cube, 'quick thaw' (microwave) Blish, James 1955Cities in Flight Growing algae in tanks as basic food stock Protine: algae that can be engineered to look/taste like 'normal' food when 'real' food is too PKD 1955Solar Lottery expensive Piper, H Beam 1961Four Day Planet Industrial plants that grow meat (carniculture) Time is the simplest Simak, Clifford D 1961thing Butcher vegetables: plants that grow steaks Herbert, Frank 1965Dune Poison snooper - devices that test food and drink for poison Harrison, Harry 1965Bill the Galactic Hero Spatial post-card: can be read and then eaten, turns into dehydrated chocolate The Moon is a Harsh Heinlein, Robert 1966Mistress Closing circuit between food, production and waste Niven, Larry 1966Bordered in Black Humanity seeded in universe as food stuff PKD Cantata 140 (The Crack 1966in Space) Autoprep restaurants (cheap) vs food prepared by humans (expensive) PKD Cantata 140 (The Crack 1966in Space) SynCof: synthetic coffee

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10 Predictions Science Fiction innovations that were realized: Satellites E-books The Internet Tablets Mobile phones Industrial robots Video-chatting Science Fiction elements that probably will not be realized: Humans as energy producers Faster than light travel Time travel Travelling into black holes Science Fiction predictions that did not hold water: Venus as a habitable planet Vegetation on Mars Presence of atmosphere on planets and moons Radiation (solar winds and flares, local radiation) Quality of regoliths on Mars and moons Arthur C. Clarke

11 What has happened since I wrote my chapter: Water on the Moon Lava tubes on the Moon New players: SpaceX

12 A roadmap to Mars?

13 Terraforming Mars

14 Red Mars

15 Green Mars

16 Blue Mars

17 KSR and the Mars trilogy Overall, the science in Red Mars is remarkably good even today. If you want to get a good basic understanding of Mars science (or if you want to read an epic story of colonization, human drama, etc.) Red Mars is a great place to start. Still, we know a lot more about some things than we did when the book was written. However, processes like terraforming proceed faster in the books than anticipated by scientists. "It was a sort of a feedback loop [between researching and writing]," he says. "I learned more, and between the publication of Red Mars and Green Mars, there were some very important books that came out. McKay himself published a cover article in Nature on the terraforming of Mars that really transformed that into a scientifically respectable question (KSR). Kim Stanley Robinson, about Elon Musk s big plans: Musk s plan is sort of the 1920s science-fiction cliché of the boy who builds a rocket to the moon in his backyard, combined with the Wernher von Braun plan, as described in the Disney TV programs of the 1950s. A fun, new story, he said.

18 Mission proposals for human visit to Mars 16 Mission proposals

19 Manned Mars Missions Estimated price: >500 billion US$ Mars One: Currently postponed to SpaceX: Bn US$/seat US$ NASA is currently under presidential orders to land humans on Mars by 2033 China Russia

20 Mars One

21 Mars One timeplan Initial plan Current Plan Milestone Latest status Candidate pool reduced to 40 astronauts, replica of the settlement built for training purposes. Candidate pool reduced to The first communication satellite (ComSat), and a Mars One Lander to demonstrate certain key technologies, would be launched. Contract with Lockheed Martin A rover would launch to help select the location of the settlement. The second ComSat would be launched to L5 to enable near-24/7 communication. Not yet contracted A second rover and six notional modified Dragon capsules and another rover would launch with two living units, two life-support units and two supply units. Not yet contracted The autonomous rovers will begin settlement assembly and operations. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is planned to have produced a breathable atmosphere of 0.7 bar pressure, 3000 liters of water, 240 kg of oxygen, which will be stored for later use, in the habitat A concept that a Falcon Heavy would launch with the first group of four colonists The first colonists were to arrive on Mars in a notional modified Dragon capsule Departure of second crew of four colonists Arrival of second crew on Mars The colony projected to reach 20 settlers.

22 Space X

23 Space X

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26 Issues problematic to colonizing Mars (travel not considered) Radiation Temperature Gravity Food productionn Regolith composition (nutrients, heavy metals, perchlorates) Light intensity Housing

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28 Effects of conditions on Mars to the human body

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30 The Martian

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32 LED-lit greenhouse

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34 Major Ethic considerations: Is is ethically responsible to colonize a planet that might harbor dormant or active life? Should Mars be left pristine as a geological study object? Is it ethically responsible to send voluntary colonizers to Mars on a one-way mission? Are we obliged to establish an Earth ver. 2 as a back-up of life because we are the only species that can do so? Should we start terraforming Mars?

35 Planetary protection Rovers vs astronauts Category IVa. Lander systems not carrying instruments for the investigations of extant martian life are restricted to a surface bioburden level of 3 x 10 5 spores, and an average of 300 spores per square meter.

36 Colonization has always been a disaster

37 Threats to life: Supervolcanos Asteroid impacts Idiots with red buttons

38 Terraforming No - because there is life on Mars, or there is the virtually untestable possibility of life on Mars. We can never prove there is no life on Mars, so humans must honor the intrinsic value of Martian life indefinitely. Yes - because human species survival, or recast in terms of terraformation, the survival of Earth-based life, can be insured. The extension of man and Earth-based life beyond a single planet is seen as a long-term guarantee of human existence. If life has only appeared once in the universe, or appears only very rarely (say, once in a galaxy in five or ten billion years), then it seems to me that any and all ethical issues dissolve and the terraformation of Mars becomes imperative.

39 Final Question to you "Both scientific research and science fiction begin with the same two words: 'What if? The very best science fiction takes things that are established and extrapolates from there." James Kakalios, Professor in physics, University of Minnesota Should we include Science Fiction in Science and technical educations to stimulate innovation and out-ofthe-box thinking?????

40 After 100 generations on Mars