Physicist proposes that human-populated megasatellite Ceres orbits

Physicist Pekka Janhunen with the Finnish Meteorological Institute has developed a new idea to colonize a place other than the earth – and it is not the moon or Mars. Instead, Janhunen suggests in an article posted on the arXiv preprint server that humans populate a giant satellite orbiting Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

Many space scientists have noticed the problems and dangers of trying to colonize the moon or Mars – both have extremely hostile environments. So many in the field have promoted the idea of ​​building a structure large enough to house tens of thousands of people somewhere in space. But that would present its own set of problems. To pay, for example, for the construction of such a giant project and the protection of the inhabitants against solar radiation – and what about the provision of gravity, and where would the structure live? In his newspaper, Janhunen suggests that Ceres would be an ideal place to place such a structure, which would make it a satellite. He notes that such an orbit would be close enough to the dwarf planet that a 636-mile space elevator could transport material from the surface to the satellite for construction and supply – Ceres has more than enough nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide to support such an enterprise.

Janhunen also has plans for the dish-shaped satellite – it provides it with more than a kilometer long and with thousands of interconnected cylindrical structures on the surface to accommodate people, and to also provide space for other necessities such as agriculture and recreational areas. He also imagines some giant mirrors to harness the sun’s energy on either side of the satellite, giving the overall structure a mussel-like shape. He also aims to start with a population of 50,000 people. And he also believes that most of the satellite can be built from material on the surface of Ceres. Gravity, he notes, can be mimicked simply by turning the satellite at the right speed.

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