Asteroid belt ‘megasatellite’ could house humans in space
Humans could inhabit a floating asteroid “megasatellite” around a dwarf planet in the next 15 years, scientists say.
A team of Finnish researchers proposed building a settlement of thousands of cylindrical spacecraft that would float around the dwarf planet Ceres – found in the asteroid belt.
The bold plan offers an alternative to the human colonisation of planets such as Mars, championed by billionaire Elon Musk and others.
Ceres – at 960km wide is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – and has abundant nitrogen – critical for supporting human life.
Under the plan, each spacecraft- all linked together inside a disk-shaped frame – could hold up to 50,000 people. To create Earth-like gravity conditions, they would have to orbit Ceres in only 66 seconds.
The scientists also said that raw materials from the dwarf planet could be used to build the human colony with the help of a space elevator.
Another part of the space settlement would be giant mirrors at each side which could harvest light from the sun.
