Recently, humanity has entered the threshold of the third millennium. What awaits us in the future? Surely there will be many problems that require binding solutions. According to scientists, in 2050 the number of inhabitants of the Earth will reach the figure of 11 billion people. Moreover, 94% growth will be in developing countries and only 6% in industrialized ones. In addition, scientists have learned to slow down the aging process, which significantly increases life expectancy.
This leads to a new problem - food shortages. At the moment, about half a billion people are starving. For this reason, about 50 million die every year. Feeding 11 billion would require a 10-fold increase in food production. In addition, energy will be needed to ensure the life of all these people. And this leads to an increase in the production of fuel and raw materials. Will the planet withstand such a load?
Well, do not forget about environmental pollution. With increasing production ratesnot only are resources depleted, but the climate of the planet is changing. Cars, power plants, factories emit so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that the emergence of the greenhouse effect is not far off. With an increase in temperature on Earth, the melting of glaciers and an increase in the water level in the oceans will begin. All this will adversely affect the living conditions of people. It may even lead to disaster.
These problems will help solve space exploration. Think for yourself. It will be possible to move factories there, explore Mars, the Moon, extract resources and energy. And everything will be like in the movies and on the pages of science fiction works.
Energy from outer space
Now 90% of all the earth's energy is obtained by burning fuel in household stoves, car engines and power plant boilers. Energy consumption doubles every 20 years. How much natural resources will be enough to meet our needs?
For example, the same oil? According to scientists, it will end in as many years as the history of space exploration, that is, in 50. Coal will last for 100 years, and gas for about 40. By the way, nuclear energy is also an exhaustible source.
Theoretically, the problem of finding alternative energy was solved back in the 30s of the last century, when they came up with the reaction of thermonuclear fusion. Unfortunately, she is still out of control. But even if you learn to control it and receive energy in unlimited quantities, this will lead to overheating of the planet and irreversibleclimate change. Is there a way out of this situation?
3D industry
Of course, this is space exploration. It is necessary to move from the "two-dimensional" industry to the "three-dimensional". That is, all energy-intensive industries need to be transferred from the surface of the Earth into space. But at the moment it is not economically viable to do so. The cost of such energy will be 200 times higher than electricity generated by heat on Earth. Plus, huge cash injections will require the construction of large orbital stations. In general, we need to wait until humanity goes through the next stages of space exploration, when technology will be improved and the cost of building materials will decrease.
24/7 sun
Throughout the history of the planet, people have used sunlight. However, the need for it is not only in the daytime. At night, it is needed much longer: to illuminate construction sites, streets, fields during agricultural work (sowing, harvesting), etc. And in the Far North, the Sun does not appear in the sky at all for six months. Is it possible to increase daylight hours? How realistic is the creation of an artificial sun? Today's advances in space exploration make this task quite feasible. It is enough just to place an appropriate device in the orbit of the planet to reflect light to the Earth. At the same time, its intensity can be changed.
Who invented the reflector?
It can be said that the history of space exploration in Germany began with the idea of creating extraterrestrial reflectors, proposed by the German engineer HermannOberth in 1929. Its further development can be traced to the work of the scientist Eric Kraft from the USA. Now the Americans are closer than ever to the implementation of this project.
Structurally, the reflector is a frame on which a polymeric metallized film is stretched, reflecting the radiation of the sun. The direction of the light flux will be carried out either by commands from the Earth, or automatically, according to a predetermined program.
Project implementation
The United States is making serious progress in space exploration and has come close to implementing this project. Now American experts are investigating the possibility of placing appropriate satellites in orbit. They will be located directly above North America. 16 installed reflecting mirrors will extend the daylight hours by 2 hours. Two reflectors are planned to be sent to Alaska, which will increase daylight hours there by as much as 3 hours. If you use reflector satellites to extend the day in megacities, this will provide them with high-quality and shadowless lighting of streets, highways, construction sites, which is undoubtedly beneficial from an economic point of view.
Reflectors in Russia
For example, if five cities equal in size to Moscow are illuminated from space, then thanks to energy savings, the costs will pay off in about 4-5 years. Moreover, the system of reflector satellites can switch to another group of cities without any additional costs. And how will the air be purified if the energy comes not from fuming power plants, but from spacespace! The only obstacle to the implementation of this project in our country is the lack of funding. Therefore, space exploration by Russia is not going as fast as it would like.
Extraterrestrial Plants
It's been more than 300 years since E. Torricelli's discovery of the vacuum. This played a huge role in the development of technology. After all, without understanding the physics of vacuum, it would be impossible to create either electronics or internal combustion engines. But all of this applies to industry on Earth. It is difficult to imagine what opportunities a vacuum will give in such a matter as space exploration. Why not make the galaxy serve people by building factories there? They will be in a completely different environment, in conditions of vacuum, low temperatures, powerful sources of solar radiation and weightlessness.
Now it is difficult to realize all the advantages of these factors, but we can say with confidence that simply fantastic prospects are opening up and the topic “Space exploration through the construction of extraterrestrial factories” is becoming more relevant than ever. If the rays of the Sun are concentrated by a parabolic mirror, then parts made of titanium alloys, stainless steel, etc. can be welded. When metals are melted in terrestrial conditions, impurities get into them. And technology is increasingly in need of ultra-pure materials. How to get them? You can "suspend" the metal in a magnetic field. If its mass is small, then this field will hold it. In this case, the metal can be melted by passing a high-frequency current through it.
In weightlessness, materials of any mass and size can be melted. Not neededno molds, no crucibles for casting. Also, there is no need for subsequent grinding and polishing. And the materials will be melted either in conventional or solar furnaces. In vacuum conditions, “cold welding” can be carried out: well-cleaned and matched metal surfaces form very strong joints.
In terrestrial conditions, it will not be possible to make large semiconductor crystals without defects, which reduce the quality of microcircuits and devices made from them. Thanks to weightlessness and vacuum, it will be possible to obtain crystals with the desired properties.
Attempts to implement ideas
The first steps in the implementation of these ideas were taken in the 80s, when space exploration in the USSR was in full swing. In 1985, engineers launched a satellite into orbit. Two weeks later, he delivered samples of materials to Earth. Such launches have become an annual tradition.
In the same year, the "Technology" project was developed at the NPO "Salyut". It was planned to build a spacecraft weighing 20 tons and a plant weighing 100 tons. The device was equipped with ballistic capsules, which were supposed to deliver manufactured products to Earth. The project was never implemented. You will ask why? This is a standard problem of space exploration - lack of funding. It is relevant in our time.
Space settlements
At the beginning of the 20th century, a fantastic story by K. E. Tsiolkovsky “Out of the Earth” was published. In it, he described the first galactic settlements. At the moment, whenthere are certain achievements in space exploration, you can take on the implementation of this fantastic project.
In 1974, Gerard O'Neill, professor of physics at Princeton University, developed and published a project to colonize the galaxy. He proposed to place space settlements at the point of libration (the place where the forces of attraction of the Sun, Moon and Earth cancel each other out). Such villages will always be in one place.
O'Neil believes that in 2074 most people will move into space and will have unlimited food and energy resources. The land will become a huge park, free from industry, where you can spend your holidays.
Model colony O'Nile
Peaceful space exploration professor suggests starting with the construction of a model with a radius of 100 meters. This facility can accommodate up to 10,000 people. The main task of this settlement is to build the next model, which should be 10 times larger. The diameter of the next colony increases to 6-7 kilometers, and the length increases to 20.
In the scientific community around the O'Nile project, disputes still do not subside. In the colonies he proposes, the population density is about the same as in terrestrial cities. And that's quite a lot! Especially when you consider that on weekends you can’t get out of the city there. Few people want to relax in cramped parks. It can hardly be compared with the conditions of life on Earth. And how will things be with psychological compatibility and desire to change places in these closed spaces?Will people want to live there? Will space settlements become places for the spread of global disasters and conflicts? All these questions are still open.
Conclusion
In the bowels of the solar system, an incalculable amount of material and energy resources are laid. Therefore, human space exploration should now become a priority. After all, if successful, the resources received will serve the benefit of people.
So far, astronautics is taking its first steps in this direction. We can say that this is a child, but in time he will become an adult. The main problem of space exploration is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of funds. Huge material resources are needed. But if we compare them with the cost of armaments, then the amount is not so big. For example, a 50% reduction in global military spending will allow three expeditions to Mars in the next few years.
In our time, humanity should be imbued with the idea of the unity of the world and reconsider development priorities. And space will be a symbol of cooperation. It is better to build factories on Mars and the Moon, thus benefiting all people, than to multiply the already inflated global nuclear potential. There are people who argue that space exploration can wait. Usually scientists answer them like this: “Of course, maybe, because the universe will exist forever, but we, unfortunately, will not.”
