4 ms·

This is amazing. And probably step three to being a multiplanetary species!

• PaulHoule 4y ago
  If you take that paper seriously it points out serious deficiencies in all the other space colonization schemes like the O'Neill cylinders. I like, however, the idea that interstellar travelers who'd mastered D-D fusion and could live (for a while) independently of stars could cut an object like Pluto up. The outer layers of Pluto contain huge amounts of nitrogen and carbon monoxide not to mention water and would be good for making organic chemicals, plastics, bodies, cattle, etc. but it seems you'd have to dig in pretty deep to find metal oxides and stones. In the case of Pluto you could probably get rock to tide you by from Charon but as that paper points out there's a strong motivation to not waste volatiles with rockets but rather do all as much transportation by cable and rail. Even if aliens like that were "grabby" they might have little interest in dry inner solar system worlds that are good for very little living area. If "grabby" aliens had come to our solar system, however, they probably would have consumed Ceres and/or Pluto.
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