How
to Colonize an Asteroid
How
to Colonize an Asteroid
Okay, I know that "Star Trek" is science fiction, but science fiction writers planted the seeds for many of mankind's great achievements. Arthur C. Clarke invented the communications satellite, so why couldn't Gene Roddenbery invent something too?
There are some truely wonderful suggestions which he put forth in Star Trek, such as matter/energy transporters, faster than light (he called it "warp") drive systems, deflection shields, and much more. The particular system of interest to us here though is the probes which the Enterprise carries.
These probes come in various sizes and abilities, called classes, and are modular in nature. The probes carry a standard set of sensors and computers, and can be custom configured and programmed for individual missions. This is exactly the type of functionality that we need in our asteroid colonization project. We can build a number of standardized probes, there by reducing the cost of individual units, and making them more simple to operate. One feature that the Star Trek variety are missing, I believe, is the ability to return to the mother ship to be recharged and re-used. It would be impractical to do with probes launched from earth due to our gravity well, but we won't have this problem once we get to the asteroids.
