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/sci/ - Science & Math

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5868143 No.5868143 [Reply] [Original]

I want to dismantle the planet Mercury and use the metal to build space habitats.
Let’s not assume any radical new tech but our budget is the GNP of Earth for the next 1,000 years.
The metal in Mercury is enough to build 4 or 5 billion habitats like the one described below.
An O'Neill habitat with a livable area of 10 sq. KM could comfortably support 5,000 people. This assumes all the "land" is used for agriculture and living spaces are under "ground"
We add a wobble to the orbit to provide natural day & night cycles. Photovoltaic cells on the outside provide power. If we use part of the outside as an algae farm we can use some of the inside surface for recreation; a nice park or woods.
So, 5,000 * 4,000,000,000. That’s a happy home for twenty trillion human beings.

>> No.5868158
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5868158

The crust of Mercury is likely very thin, 500 to 600 km thick. The metallic core with a radius of 1,800 to 1,900 km makes up 75 percent of the planet's radius. The core is molten. Mercury's core has more iron than any other planet in the solar system.
The surface temp ranges from -170 C at night to 430 C during the day but the poles stay below -90 C. There should be a spot where the heating and cooling bills won’t be too high. Of course it makes the most sense to launch from the equator. A huge heat sink of some kind might help.
The atmosphere is 42% O2, 29% Na H2 22%, He 6% and 0.5% K (I can’t imagine why it doesn’t blow up at the fist spark making the hydrogen and oxygen into water)
Escape velocity
V = sqrt((2 × (6.67×10^11) × 3.3 ×10^23 kg)/2439700m)
= sqrt ( 4.4022 × 10^13 / 2439700m)
= sqrt (18044021.81)
= approx 4247.825539 m/s,
= approx 42.5 km/s.
This is a real bitch. Earths is only 11.2 km/s. I’m guessing Mercury’s density is the problem.
Since we will be launching trillions of tones into orbit we will need some kind of space elevator. Maybe a huge solenoid cannon is the answer.

>> No.5868166

So if a couple of you guys stop by next Saturday we can get started I have a few power tools and will supply beer.
I think we should plan on moving into orbit around mercury by September, before it gets cold. my apartment is pretty small it it will get to cold to work outside.

>> No.5869006 [DELETED] 

>>5868143

>> No.5869031

You would be far better off asteroid mining most likely. There is no gravity well to overcome and the metal is frequently easier to access. Also Mercury is quite hot in case you didn't notice.

>> No.5869035

>>5868143
>>5868158
how the fuck would we go about forging something of this magnitude?

>> No.5869494
File: 71 KB, 800x404, Phobos-inside.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5869494

>> No.5869498

>>5868158
escape velocity is only for non-propulsed material

unless you're planning on catapulting the iron over to Earth, you could get it to escape Mercury with a much smaller velocity

>> No.5869507
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5869507

>>5868158
>= approx 4247.825539 m/s,
>= approx 42.5 km/s.

>> No.5869537

>catapulting the iron

escape velocity is a measure of the energy (per mass) required to leave the gravity well

>> No.5869541

wouldn't there be relatively no gravity inside of the habitat because of Gaussian mumbo jumbo?

>> No.5869566

Also we have issues with radiation when we are trying to get to mars, so expect the radiation on mercury to be 20,000 times as intense, (don't expect electronic equipment, or anything living to survive)

>> No.5869567

If you lined the outside with PV cells, you would constantly be repairing them because micro-impacts. Need to develop something that would protect them while you're at it.

>> No.5869569

>>5869566
We'd be living inside. Besides, we've got probes closer than Mercury.

>> No.5869570

>>5869567
>PV cells
Another layer of cells? That way, when they get smashed you've got another layer beneath to keep generating power.

>> No.5869571

>>5869570
That's a bit like wearing armor to protect your armor dude, it's not sensible.

>> No.5869574

>>5869571
magnets

>> No.5869588

>>5869567
>build just enough PV to keep systems running
Fuck yeah, in the future, every society lives on the knife's edge!

Fucking use redundant systems to keep ahead with the repairs. Maybe keep a nuclear reactor ready for when the engineers get hopped up on spaceweed and arcturian poontang and forget to dodge a swarm of asteroids.