Xoon

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

Colonization Of The Solar System

 
This thread is for discussing the colonization of the solar system, mainly focusing on Mars and the Moon since they are the most relevant. 
Main topics include transportation, industry, agriculture, economics, civil engineering,  energy production and distribution, habitation, ethics and politics. 
 
 
 
 
First order of business, our glories tech messiah Elon Musk has set his eyes on Mars:
Reason stated? Because being a interplanetary species beats being a single planetary species. 
 
How does he plan to do this?
By sending two cargo ships by 2022 to Mars for surveying and building  basic infrastructure, then two years later in 2024 sending 4 ships, two cargo ships and two crewed ships to start the colonization. First thing would be to build fuel refineries and expanding infrastructure to support more ships, then starting to mine and build industry. 
 
This could mark a new era in human history, a second colonization era, this time without the genocides. The economic potentials are incredible, a single asteroid could easily support the entire earths gold, silver and platinum production for a decade. The moon holds a lot of valuable Helium 3, which right now is worth 12 000 dollars per kilogram! Helium is a excellent material for nuclear reactors. 
 
 
 

 
 
Speaking about the moon, several companies have set their eyes on the moon, and for good reason.
In my opinion,  the moon has the possibility of becoming a mayor trade hub for the solar system.  Why is this? Simply put, the earth has a few pesky things called gravity, atmosphere and environmentalists. This makes launching rockets off the moon much cheaper. The moon could even have a space elevator with current technology!  If we consider Elon Musk's plan to travel to Mars, then the Moon should be able to supply cheaper fuel and spaceship parts to space, to then be sent to Mars. The Moon is also rich in minerals that have not sunk to the core yet, and also has a huge amount of rare earth metals, which demands are rapidly increasing. Simply put, the Moon would end up as a large exporter to both the earth and potentially Mars. Importing from earth would almost always be more expensive compared to a industrialized Moon. 
 
Now how would we go about colonizing the moon? Honestly, in concept it is quite simple.When considering locations, the South pole seems like the best candidate. This is because of it's constant sun spots, which could give 24 hour solar power to the colony and give constant sunlight to plants without huge power usage. The south pole also contain dark spots which contains large amount of frozen water, which would be used to sustain the agriculture and to make rocket fuel. It is true that the equator has the largest amounts of Helium 3 and the best location for rocket launches. However, with the lack of constant sunlight and frequent solar winds and meteor impacts, makes to unsuited for initial colonization. If the SpaceX's BFR successes, then it would be the main means of transporting materials to the moon until infrastructure is properly developed. Later a heavy lifter would replace it when transporting goods to and from the lunar surface, and specialized cargo ship for trans portion between the Moon, Earth and Mars. A space elevator would reduce prices further in the future.  Most likely, a trade station would be set up in CIS lunar space and Earth orbit which would house large fuel tanks and be able to hold the cargo from  cargo ships and heavy lifters. Sun ports would be designated depending on their amount of sunlight. Year around sunlight spots would be dedicated to solar panels and agriculture. Varying sun spots would be used for storage, landing pads and in general everything. Dark spots would be designated to mining to extract its valuable water. Power production would be inistially almost purely solar, with some back up and smoothing out generators. Later nuclear reactors would take over, but serve as a secondary backup energy source. 
 
 
The plan:
If we can assume the BFR is a success, then we have roughly 150 ton of payload to work with per spaceship. The first spaceship would contain a satellite to survey colonization spot. Everything would be robotic at first. Several robots capable of building a LZ for future ships,  mining of the lunar surface for making solar panels for energy production, then mining and refinement for fuel for future expeditions. The lunar colony would be based underground, room and pillar mining would be used to cheaply create room that is also shielded from radiation and surface hazards. Copying the mighty tech priest, a second ship would come with people and more equipment. With this more large scale mining and ore refinement would be started. Eventually beginning to manufacturing their own goods. Routinely BFRs would supply the colony with special equipment like electronics, special minerals and advanced equipment and food until the agricultural sector can support the colony.  The colony would start to export Helium 3 and rocket fuel, as well as spacecraft parts and scientific materials. Eventually becoming self sustaining, it would stop importing food and equipment, manufacturing it all themselves to save costs. 
 
I am not the best in agriculture, so if some knowledge people could teach us here about closed loop farming, or some way of cultivating the lunar soil. Feel free to do so.
 
 
Mining:
I found a article here about the composition of the lunar soil and the use for it's main components:

In short, the moon has large amounts of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium and titanium in it's soil.
How do we refine them? By doing this.
 
Aluminum could be used for most kinds of wiring to requiring high conductivity to density ratio. Meaning power lines, building cables and such. Aluminum is not very suited for building structures on the surface because of the varying temperatures causing it to expand and contract. Iron or steel is better suited here. Aluminum could however be used in underground structures where temperatures are more stable.  Aluminum would also most likely end up as the main lunar rocket fuel. Yes, aluminum as rocket fuel. Just look at things like ALICE, or Aluminum-oxygen. Aluminum-oxygen would probably win out since ALICE uses water, which would be prioritized for the BFRs, since I am pretty sure they are not multi-fuel. 
 More on aluminum rocket fuel here:
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/88130-aluminum-as-rocket-fuel/&
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns2.php#umlunar
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/15/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-1/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2016/04/21/weve-got-rocket-chemistry-part-2/
 
Believe it or not, but calcium is actually a excellent conductor, about 12% better than copper. So why do we not use it on earth? Because it has a tendency to spontaneously combust in the atmosphere. In a vacuum however, this does not pose a problem. I does however need to be coated in a material so it does not deteriorate. This makes it suited for "outdoor" products and compact electrical systems like electric motors. Yes, a calcium electric motor.  
 
 
Lastly, a few articles about colonizing the moon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-say-we-could-colonise-the-moon-by-2022-for-just-10-billion
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Lunar.html
 
NASA article about production of solar panels on the moon:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050110155.pdf
 
Map over the south pole:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/images/gigapan
 
 
Feel free to spam the thread with news regarding colonization. 
 
 

It seems to me that the left attracts a lot of closet racists, supremacists, masochists and sexist people.
 
Sexist examples being how one can say that woman and men are equal, for then to demand support for woman so that they can end up with the same result. And example here is a gender quota. It was enforced here to improve equality. But when you think about it, it is actually extremely sexist, demeaning the woman that climbed to the top the proper way and being a passive way to state that woman are not capable of reaching leader positions without aid.  And it hurts business. I have a friend that is a storage worker. The company used to only hire boys around the age of 16-17, because they were just as hardworking and efficient as men. They would also guarantee to make more value than say a 18 year old, since they would leave for collage a year later. People under 18 are also paid 4,5 dollars less an hour, which makes them cheaper too. They hired no woman. Why? Because woman in general er less physically fit for the job. It requires a lot of upper body strength and stamina, which males already have over 40% more of when they hit puberty on average. This causes woman to be less efficient and cost the company more.  Also all the guys I talked to that worked there loves the job, excellent pay and a lot of work hours, while the woman hates it, too exhausting and too much work. Of course when the feminists got to know that this company was almost 100% male at the storage they attacked the PR of the company, calling them sexist. This forced the company to selectively not hire boys until they could reduce the gender difference. Which is ironic, since it is also sexist. They now hire woman between the age of 18-25 because they are more physically fit than underage girls.
 
When it comes to closet racists I see it in the way people treat black people for example. I have a friend that likes to pull the "black card" as he calls it, basically, if the person that accuses him of something is not black, he will call them racist, which makes them instantly try to convince him that they are not, then he goes free, since he is black. I also see a lot of people treating black people like they are kids, letting them get away with ludicrous things because they are black, and society is racist apparently. One big irony is in the US, where these people claim that there is nothing wrong with black communities, and the outcry every time a policeman arrests a black guy. It is a fact that black people disproportional make up most violent crime and homicides. This is why we should focus on fixing the problems in the communities, rather than focusing on their race as many closet racists do. Parenthood and seems to actually be the biggest problem here. 
 
To specify supremacists: People that believe that since we are so rich and developed we have to intervene and force ourselves on others. We must go to poor countries to help the poor people there, since they can't support themselves. We must build schools and give them food and shelters that collapse the moment the camera crew leaves. But of course we are not going to improve their infrastructure or help them create jobs, because who would could we help then and take in as refugees?  My former teacher works to help the Nepal people, they have done great things to improve the society there. Built power plants, factories, hospitals, psychiatrics and much more.  When the earthquake hit Nepal, all the mayor humanitarian organisations came with wide news coverage and cried about how horrible it was. They set up temporary shelters and claimed that they helped out people. But when the news coverage died off two weeks later, they all left and the shelters collapsed since they were simple wood and plastic constructions.  My former teacher almost fell into despair because of that, how little the "humanitarians" actually cared. We also have the got damn white helmets, a "non-profit" humanitarian organisation that happens to be funded by the US and Britain, that just happens to aid terrorist organisations like Al-Qaida. They travel in convoys with them, and when Russia bombed this convoys, media screamed about Russia bombing humanitarian convoys. Just ignore they fact that they actually participate in the fighting and preform war crimes on camera, which can be found all over the web. They also stage propaganda, a good example is where a person has a huge smile on his face in a hospital scene, thinking he is off cam, but but then he realizes he is on cams and suddenly acts all depressed and despaired. Aleppo boy is also a great example, his father admitted that it was all fake.  Russia is so fed up with the white helmets that they do a second strike on their target later, so that they take out the Al-Qaida supporters. 
 
That's enough ranting for me today .

It seems to me that the left attracts a lot of closet racists, supremacists, masochists and sexist people.
 
Sexist examples being how one can say that woman and men are equal, for then to demand support for woman so that they can end up with the same result. And example here is a gender quota. It was enforced here to improve equality. But when you think about it, it is actually extremely sexist, demeaning the woman that climbed to the top the proper way and being a passive way to state that woman are not capable of reaching leader positions without aid.  And it hurts business. I have a friend that is a storage worker. The company used to only hire boys around the age of 16-17, because they were just as hardworking and efficient as men. They would also guarantee to make more value than say a 18 year old, since they would leave for collage a year later. People under 18 are also paid 4,5 dollars less an hour, which makes them cheaper too. They hired no woman. Why? Because woman in general er less physically fit for the job. It requires a lot of upper body strength and stamina, which males already have over 40% more of when they hit puberty on average. This causes woman to be less efficient and cost the company more.  Also all the guys I talked to that worked there loves the job, excellent pay and a lot of work hours, while the woman hates it, too exhausting and too much work. Of course when the feminists got to know that this company was almost 100% male at the storage they attacked the PR of the company, calling them sexist. This forced the company to selectively not hire boys until they could reduce the gender difference. Which is ironic, since it is also sexist. They now hire woman between the age of 18-25 because they are more physically fit than underage girls.
 
When it comes to closet racists I see it in the way people treat black people for example. I have a friend that likes to pull the "black card" as he calls it, basically, if the person that accuses him of something is not black, he will call them racist, which makes them instantly try to convince him that they are not, then he goes free, since he is black. I also see a lot of people treating black people like they are kids, letting them get away with ludicrous things because they are black, and society is racist apparently. One big irony is in the US, where these people claim that there is nothing wrong with black communities, and the outcry every time a policeman arrests a black guy. It is a fact that black people disproportional make up most violent crime and homicides. This is why we should focus on fixing the problems in the communities, rather than focusing on their race as many closet racists do. Parenthood and seems to actually be the biggest problem here. 
 
To specify supremacists: People that believe that since we are so rich and developed we have to intervene and force ourselves on others. We must go to poor countries to help the poor people there, since they can't support themselves. We must build schools and give them food and shelters that collapse the moment the camera crew leaves. But of course we are not going to improve their infrastructure or help them create jobs, because who would could we help then and take in as refugees?  My former teacher works to help the Nepal people, they have done great things to improve the society there. Built power plants, factories, hospitals, psychiatrics and much more.  When the earthquake hit Nepal, all the mayor humanitarian organisations came with wide news coverage and cried about how horrible it was. They set up temporary shelters and claimed that they helped out people. But when the news coverage died off two weeks later, they all left and the shelters collapsed since they were simple wood and plastic constructions.  My former teacher almost fell into despair because of that, how little the "humanitarians" actually cared. We also have the got damn white helmets, a "non-profit" humanitarian organisation that happens to be funded by the US and Britain, that just happens to aid terrorist organisations like Al-Qaida. They travel in convoys with them, and when Russia bombed this convoys, media screamed about Russia bombing humanitarian convoys. Just ignore they fact that they actually participate in the fighting and preform war crimes on camera, which can be found all over the web. They also stage propaganda, a good example is where a person has a huge smile on his face in a hospital scene, thinking he is off cam, but but then he realizes he is on cams and suddenly acts all depressed and despaired. Aleppo boy is also a great example, his father admitted that it was all fake.  Russia is so fed up with the white helmets that they do a second strike on their target later, so that they take out the Al-Qaida supporters. 
 
That's enough ranting for me today .

The orange and black likely means that he's an anarchist of the mutualist variety.

Nuclear power seems like the best bet here. 

Free Piston linear generator. 

Crappy wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-piston_linear_generator
 
 
And two videos:
 
 
 
Not sure where to post this, but I think this could be a really good option for Series Hybrid electric AFVs. 

Not sure if you have seen these, so I will just drop these here, apparently Merkava 4 suspension:

As you all know, I am Norwegian. And I think we do camping a bit different from the average person from the US.
 
Here in Norway we have the allemannsretten law, which in simplified terms means anyone can go anywhere. No need to concern about private property when hiking. 
So how most Norwegians hike, is by driving/walking to the foot of the mountain/area they wish to hike and then traveling to your destination. We have no designated camping spots in the same manner as in the US. So you have to find a good spot yourself. We also lack prepared trails usually, unless it is heavily used.  We can also chop down trees and vegetation to make a campsite or a fire, as long as you don't leave a big scar. 
Campfire rules are simple, don't light them between the specified months, except in mountainous terrain or besides lakes/oceans.  And also try and stay at least 200m from trails or cabins. 
 
I have friends in the US that laughed at me about how much equipment I usually carried while camping, saying you could just sleep on the hood. 
I find it hard however to get a truck up here:

 
What you see here is heavy fog obscuring a steep drop into a river, probably a 50m fall. We have a use a set of chains bolted into the cliff face to get past this area.
 
Here is good view of the valley further up when the fog is gone:

 
The weather was kinda meh this day, demonstrated by my friend:

 
For those that wonder, we went to a place called Molladalen, very beautiful place. You ascend about 800m I believe, so a easy trip. 
 
 
 
 
 
I sometimes go hiking in the mountains when I am bored, usually I don't need more than a jacket or a par of sunglasses if the weather is not shitty. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Anyone interested in winter hiking? It is by far my favorite:

 
 
I love it, well as long as I remember to check my hands and feet once in awhile, almost lost my hand once. 

The box with fans is an air conditioning unit, and a 120mm armed Rooikat.

Felt like sharing this gem:
http://www.ffi.no/no/Rapporter/08-01220.pdf
 
A report on hybrid electric vehicles. 
 
A neat idea here is to use the hybrid electric system to power a ETC gun. This could solve the power issue, at the cost of no or reduced mobility during firing. 

CV90CZ:
 
 

Yes.
 
"The marine 4th battalion was one of the first units to adopt the practice of layering the sides of their tanks with thick timber planks.these were added after the first marine encounters with japanese type 99 magnetic mines. ", from WWII Colorized Photos on FB.
 

CV90CZ:
 
 

CV90CZ:
 
 

How come Sweden was offered the Merkava 3?
 
Source:
http://www.ointres.se/projekt_stridsvagn_ny.htm

IDK, i only saw just 2 photos of this T-72. ISIS don't use concrete much, those are IMO metal boxes. 

Norway actually purchased a new combat simulator from KMW a few years ago though I'm not sure if it has been delivered yet. Anyway, here are some images from the internal competition that was held in Telemark Bataljon and Panserbataljonen (for some reason IFV crews got to take part in their competition...) prior to Nordic Tank Challenge: 
 
 

The US is planning on standardizing their fleet on a modular opposed piston design, a little interesting:




http://www.calstart.org/Libraries/HTUF_2016/6_-_Major_-_Achates.sflb.ashx
 
And some info:
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a566997.pdf
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a626738.pdf
 

Paging @Xoon, a supercar with mixed electric and hydraulic transmission: