We need to WAKE UP to global Wall Street co-opting all the names of people and institutions that once were fueled by local left populists. Chavez and Jordan may well have been working for the 99%----but their names as with brands such as MOTHER JONES, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN have been co-opted to promote education policies for the far-right global Wall Street ----those small business corporate charters I mentioned this week all have the goal of breaking down and deregulating public schools --they will disappear as those global corporate education job training structures come to replace our public K-12. If Barbara Jordan was indeed a populist leader before she died in the 1990s she is rolling in her grave as I would if someone attached my name to global Wall Street oppression.
With global corporate universities having expanded overseas building NEWCOMER TO JOB TRAINING structures these few decades and with small business education from lesson plans to charters breaking down our regulated public school structures assuring equal opportunity, access, and democratic education for all----
WE THE PEOPLE WILL BE ONE WORLD ONE EDUCATION WITH RACE TO THE TOP AND ALL THESE CORPORATE CHARTERS, CORPORATE TESTING EVALUATION/CORPORATE STAFFING/AND CORPORATE APPRENTICESHIPS K-12.
Astrophysics is the study of heavenly bodies and how they inter-react with space around them-----for example our NASA MARS space program and its mission. These several decades since JFK'S missions to the moon our telescope capacities, rockets and space exploration missions have mapped a solid picture of chemical, mineral, geothermal dynamics of near space and far space and this was great basic science. All this was done by our Federal taxpayer revenue budgeted to agencies like NASA.
So, why is this important to 99% of WE THE PEOPLE?
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry "to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space."[1][2] Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background.[3][4] Their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.
This topic will be hard for citizens not having a strong background in STEM ----but the goals are very important and will be realized in several decades---that is when our grandchildren have their children----it is hard to think that far but this is the reality we create for them today if we continue allowing global Wall Street to simply MOVE FORWARD.
Trump renews NASA mission for human space travel, deep space exploration
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 21, 2017, after signing a bill to increase NASA’s budget to $19.5 billion and directs the agency to focus human exploration of deep space ...
By S.A. Miller - The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 21, 2017
President Trump put NASA on course for a mission to Mars and beyond Tuesday, signing a bill that authorized boosting the agency’s current year budget to $19.5 billion and restoring its focus on manned space flights.
Mr. Trump spoke in historic terms about the renewed charge of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which was expanded to include “the search for life’s origins, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe” in at the agency’s mission statement.
“Almost half a century ago our brave astronauts first planted the American flag on the moon. That was a big moment in our history. Now this nation is ready to be the first in space once again,” he said at a signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
“Today we are taking the initial steps toward a bold and bright new future of American space flight,” said the president, who was surrounded by several NASA astronauts and a group of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
Congress has not passed a NASA authorization bill in nearly seven years. The agency hasn’t had its own spacecraft since retiring the space shuttle program shortly after Endeavour flew its last mission June 1, 2011.
President Obama pulled the plug on NASA’s manned space flights and refocused the agency’s research and development on robotics, saying it saved money. His vision of the space program put an emphasis on private-sector and commercial space industries, with long-term plans for a manned mission to Mars.
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We are not so naive to think that basic science has ever been purely intellectual curiosity---it has been driven by genius wanting to cash in with global 1% including the creation of products and the expansion of power. Many STEM are those with intellectual curiosity. Einstein stated his fear of his basic science being used by TYRANTS.
The sciences of multi-dimensions and here we see time warps and Higgs Boson are funded with the goal of finding the fastest movement----a fuel allowing long-term travel---and the capacity of transporting large numbers of people and natural resources mined from planets like MARS. Of course as with all global Wall Street COLONIZING PLANETS is the goal. Combine both and we have colonies on Mars geared to mining minerals to send back to earth and to act as a source of escape if EARTH is faced with eminent destruction as with a comet changing paths into earth's rotation.
"To understand the quantum nature of space-time is the holy grail of 21st century physics," Davis said. "We are stuck in a quagmire of multiple proposed new theories that don't seem to work to solve this problem."
Building colonies to hedge against earth's destruction from natural disaster is not a bad thing---building it to allow unbridled destruction of earth's environment from Foreign Economic Zone expansions and hyper-industrialization is not good. Well, say global 1% if things on earth get too bad from Level 5 Climate Change we will send a global 1% to live on MARS.
This is why ETHICS AND MORALS in science have always been vital in a CIVILIZED SOCIETY----we as intelligent beings do not set out to deliberately implode the planet on which we live.
Time Warps and Black Holes: The Past, Present & Future of Space-Time
By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | December 31, 2015 10:40am ET
A massive object like the Earth will bend space-time, and cause objects to fall toward it.
Credit: Science@NASA
When giving the coordinates for a location, most people provide the latitude, longitude and perhaps altitude. But there is a fourth dimension often neglected: time. The combination of the physical coordinates with the temporal element creates a concept known as space-time, a background for all events in the universe.
"In physics, space-time is the mathematical model that combines space and time into a single interwoven continuum throughout the universe," Eric Davis, a physicist who works at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin and with the Tau Zero Foundation, told Space.com by email. Davis specializes in faster-than-light space-time and anti-gravity physics, both of which use Albert Einstein's general relativity theory field equations and quantum field theory, as well as quantum optics, to conduct lab experiments.
"Einstein's special theory of relativity, published in 1905, adapted [German mathematician] Hermann Minkowski's unified space-and-time model of the universe to show that time should be treated as a physical dimension on par with the three physical dimensions of space — height, width and length — that we experience in our lives," Davis said. [Einstein's Theory of Relativity Explained (Infographic)]
"Space-time is the landscape over which phenomena take place," added Luca Amendola, a member of the Euclid Theory Working Group (a team of theoretical scientists working with the European Space Agency's Euclid satellite) and a professor at Heidelberg University in Germany. "Just as any landscape is not set in stone, fixed forever, it changes just because things happen — planets move, particles interact, cells reproduce," he told Space.com via email.
The history of space-time
The idea that time and space are united is a fairly recent development in the history of science.
"The concepts of space remained practically the same from the early Greek philosophers until the beginning of the 20th century — an immutable stage over which matter moves," Amendola said. "Time was supposed to be even more immutable because, while you can move in space the way you like, you cannot travel in time freely, since it runs the same for everybody."
In the early 1900s, Minkowski built upon the earlier works of Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz and French mathematician and theoretical physicist Henri Poincare to create a unified model of space-time. Einstein, a student of Minkowski, adapted Minkowski's model when he published his special theory of relativity in 1905.
"Einstein had brought together Poincare's, Lorentz's and Minkowski's separate theoretical works into his overarching special relativity theory, which was much more comprehensive and thorough in its treatment of electromagnetic forces and motion, except that it left out the force of gravity, which Einstein later tackled in his magnum opus general theory of relativity," Davis said.
Space-time breakthroughs
In special relativity, the geometry of space-time is fixed, but observers measure different distances or time intervals according to their own relative velocity. In general relativity, the geometry of space-time itself changes depending on how matter moves and is distributed.
"Einstein's general theory of relativity is the first major theoretical breakthrough that resulted from the unified space-time model," Davis said.
General relativity led to the science of cosmology, the next major breakthrough that came thanks to the concept of unified space-time.
"It is because of the unified space-time model that we can have a theory for the creation and existence of our universe, and be able to study all the consequences that result thereof," Davis said.
He explained that general relativity predicted phenomena such as black holes and white holes. It also predicts that they have an event horizon, the boundary that marks where nothing can escape, and the point of singularities at their center, a one dimensional point where gravity becomes infinite. General relativity could also explain rotating astronomical bodies that drag space-time with them, the Big Bang and the inflationary expansion of the universe, gravity waves, time and space dilation associated with curved space-time, gravitational lensing caused by massive galaxies, and the shifting orbit of Mercury and other planetary bodies, all of which science has shown true. It also predicts things such as warp-drive propulsions and traversable wormholes and time machines.
"All of these phenomena rely on the unified space-time model," he said, "and most of them have been observed."
An improved understanding of space-time also led to quantum field theory. When quantum mechanics, the branch of theory concerned with the movement of atoms and photons, was first published in 1925, it was based on the idea that space and time were separate and independent. After World War II, theoretical physicists found a way to mathematically incorporate Einstein's special theory of relativity into quantum mechanics, giving birth to quantum field theory.
"The breakthroughs that resulted from quantum field theory are tremendous," Davis said.
The theory gave rise to a quantum theory of electromagnetic radiation and electrically charged elementary particles — called quantum electrodynamics theory (QED theory) — in about 1950. In the 1970s, QED theory was unified with the weak nuclear force theory to produce the electroweak theory, which describes them both as different aspects of the same force. In 1973, scientists derived the quantum chromodynamics theory (QCD theory), the nuclear strong force theory of quarks and gluons, which are elementary particles.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, physicists united the QED theory, the QCD theory and the electroweak theory to formulate the Standard Model of Particle Physics, the megatheory that describes all of the known elementary particles of nature and the fundamental forces of their interactions. Later on, Peter Higgs' 1960s prediction of a particle now known as the Higgs boson, which was discovered in 2012 by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, was added to the mix.
Experimental breakthroughs include the discovery of many of the elementary particles and their interaction forces known today, Davis said. They also include the advancement of condensed matter theory to predict two new states of matter beyond those taught in most textbooks. More states of matter are being discovered using condensed matter theory, which uses the quantum field theory as its mathematical machinery.
"Condensed matter has to do with the exotic states of matter, such as those found in metallic glass, photonic crystals, metamaterials, nanomaterials, semiconductors, crystals, liquid crystals, insulators, conductors, superconductors, superconducting fluids, etc.," Davis said. "All of this is based on the unified space-time model."
The future of space-time
Scientists are continuing to improve their understanding of space-time by using missions and experiments that observe many of the phenomena that interact with it. The Hubble Space Telescope, which measured the accelerating expansion of the universe, is one instrument doing so. NASA's Gravity Probe B mission, which launched in 2004, studied the twisting of space-time by a rotating body — the Earth. NASA's NuSTAR mission, launched in 2012, studies black holes. Many other telescopes and missions have also helped to study these phenomena.
On the ground, particle accelerators have studied fast-moving particles for decades.
"One of the best confirmations of special relativity is the observations that particles, which should decay after a given time, take in fact much longer when traveling very fast, as, for instance, in particle accelerators," Amendola said. "This is because time intervals are longer when the relative velocity is very large."
Future missions and experiments will continue to probe space-time as well. The European Space Agency-NASA satellite Euclid, set to launch in 2020, will continue to test the ideas at astronomical scales as it maps the geometry of dark energy and dark matter, the mysterious substances that make up the bulk of the universe. On the ground, the LIGO and VIRGO observatories continue to study gravitational waves, ripples in the curvature of space-time.
"If we could handle black holes the same way we handle particles in accelerators, we would learn much more about space-time," Amendola said.
Merging black holes create ripples in space-time in this artist's concept. Experiments are searching for these ripples, known as gravitational waves, but none have been detected.
Understanding space-time
Will scientists ever get a handle on the complex issue of space-time? That depends on precisely what you mean.
"Physicists have an excellent grasp of the concept of space-time at the classical levels provided by Einstein's two theories of relativity, with his general relativity theory being the magnum opus of space-time theory," Davis said. "However, physicists do not yet have a grasp on the quantum nature of space-time and gravity."
Amendola agreed, noting that although scientists understand space-time across larger distances, the microscopic world of elementary particles remains less clear.
"It might be that space-time at very short distances takes yet another form and perhaps is not continuous," Amendola said. "However, we are still far from that frontier."
Today's physicists cannot experiment with black holes or reach the high energies at which new phenomena are expected to occur. Even astronomical observations of black holes remain unsatisfactory due to the difficulty of studying something that absorbs all light, Amendola said. Scientists must instead use indirect probes.
"To understand the quantum nature of space-time is the holy grail of 21st century physics," Davis said. "We are stuck in a quagmire of multiple proposed new theories that don't seem to work to solve this problem."
Amendola remained optimistic. "Nothing is holding us back," he said. "It's just that it takes time to understand space-time."
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Finding the key to RIGGS BOSON----that particles tied to assigning weight to a body----provides that ability to lower weight of people and/or mined minerals in process of transport whether from the MOON or MARS----or eventually exo-planets. The technology of strength in CABLES is vital whether for global technology here on earth or this vision of space elevators that could go from EARTH TO MOON----or allow a staging of elevators from EARTH TO MARS.
The problem for the global 99% is always this-----the morality and ethics of leaders tasked with passing laws and providing oversight---and today we have
LYING, CHEATING, STEALING, NO MORALS OR ETHICS, NO RULE OF LAW, NO GOD'S NATURAL LAW GLOBAL WALL STREET PRAGMATIC NILISTS.
So, we have that global 1% controlling our US space agency now being handed to private global corporations using our Federal dollars to determine goals and build the infrastructure for this.
What we KNOW WILL BE A GOAL ---is colonizing a MARS just as England sent its citizens to AUSTRALIA AS A PENAL COLONY---or a Europe sent its citizens to AMERICA as a wilderness with great loses of life---but at least a future of generations enjoying the benefit of stability and economic prosperity. Where will all that lie when these global 1% use the same goals of HUMAN CAPITAL AS COLONIAL EXPORTS? There will be no quality of life----there will be the worst of industry of mining----already one of the hardest of occupations compounded by living in hostile environments of MOON AND MARS.
Bush funded all this mission to MOON as opposed to MARS because Bush is a GOT TO HAVE EVERYTHING NOW kind of sociopath. The ethics revolve around DO WE NEED THIS----WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE OUR EARTH ENVIRONMENT?
How Space Elevators Will Work
by Kevin Bonsor Science | Future Space
The lifter, seen in this artist's concept, will be able to carry as much as 13 tons of cargo into space, propelled by laser beams. See more space exploration pictures.
When the Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off on April 12, 1981, from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to begin the first space shuttle mission, the dream of a reusable spacecraft was realized. Since then, NASA has launched more than 100 missions, but the price tag of space missions has changed little. Whether it is the space shuttle or the non-reusable Russian spacecraft, the cost of a launch is approximately $10,000 per pound ($22,000 per kg).
A new space transportation system being developed could make travel to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) a daily event and transform the global economy.
A space elevator made of a carbon nanotubes composite ribbon anchored to an offshore sea platform would stretch to a small counterweight approximately 62,000 miles (100,000 km) into space. Mechanical lifters attached to the ribbon would then climb the ribbon, carrying cargo and humans into space, at a price of only about $100 to $400 per pound ($220 to $880 per kg).
In this article, we'll take a look at how the idea of a space elevator is moving out of science fiction and into reality.
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Our space shuttle program and all the science around space vehicle travel was privatized to a few global 1% taking all those decades of taxpayer funded space research on the cheap to control what all this will look like. Right now national media sells all this as space travel for the rich---the goals of these kinds of platforms will be just as described----a landing platform for transport of human and natural resources like gold, iron, rare earth minerals so we would see this platform right at earth's atmosphere with others to break tensions on elevator cables only able to withstand so much weight and distance. From the MOON of course close and well on its way to being a reality----from EARTH to MARS still that 3 decades or more away. As Obama and Clinton neo-liberals sold GREEN ENERGY with technology telling us its all about the 99% living sustainability and environmentally ----this was the technology they were funding---global colonizing and mining structures.
We are watching as all Federal tax revenue that used to fund quality of life---communities and national economies being directed to war, surveillance, and futures of space colonization while our citizens, society, environment is being WASTED AND DISCARDED.......
'after signing a bill to increase NASA’s budget to $19.5 billion and directs the agency to focus human exploration of deep space '...
These are all areas of ethics and morals our once PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES----OUR PUBLIC AGENCIES AT LOCAL AND STATE LEVEL would have open and free discussions whether from the right wing bias or the left bias----instead there is no discussions outside of ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE AND THE GLOBAL 1% meeting at MOVING FORWARD DAVOS, SWITZERLAND.
Going up? Space elevator could zoom astronauts into Earth's stratosphere
Canadian space firm granted US and UK patents for elevator designed to take astronauts 20km (12 miles) above Earth so they can then be propelled into space
Canadian space company, Thoth Technology Inc, has been granted a United States patent for a space elevator. Photograph: PRMahita Gajanan in New York
Monday 17 August 2015 15.17 EDT First published on Monday 17 August 2015 13.22 EDT
A Canadian space firm is one step closer to revolutionizing space travel with a simple idea – instead of taking a rocket ship, why not take a giant elevator into space?
Thoth Technology Inc has been granted both US and UK patents for a space elevator designed to take astronauts up into the stratosphere, so they can then be propelled into space.
The company said the tower, named the ThothX Tower, will be an inflatable, freestanding structure complete with an electrical elevator and will reach 20km (12.5 miles) above the Earth.
“Astronauts would ascend to 20km by electrical elevator. From the top of the tower, space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit, returning to the top of the tower for refueling and reflight,” Brendan Quine, the tower’s inventor, said in a statement.
Traditionally, regions above 50km (31 miles) in altitude can only be reached by rocket ships, where mass is expelled at a high velocity to achieve thrust in the opposite direction. Quine said in the patent that rocketry is “extremely inefficient” and that a space elevator would take less energy.
In the patent, Quine explained that rocket ships expend more energy because they “must counter the gravitational force during the flight by carrying mass in the form of propellant and must overcome atmospheric drag”.
In contrast, by using an elevator system, “the work done is significantly less as no expulsion mass must be carried to do work against gravity, and lower ascent speeds in the lower atmosphere can virtually eliminate atmospheric drag”.
“Part of the limitation on space travel is the cost of getting to space,” Quine told the Guardian. “The tower could change space travel because professional rockets are very energy intensive and not very environmentally friendly.”
The elevator cars can also be powered electrically or inductively, eliminating the need to carry fuel, Quine wrote. The technology offers a way to access space through reusable hardware, and will save more than 30% of the fuel of a conventional rocket, Thoth Technology said in a July statement.
Quine said when a traditional rocket ship launches from Earth, it flies vertically about 15-25km (9-15 miles) before hitting drop-off stages, when sections of the rocket drop back to Earth, usually falling into the ocean. During the final stage when it enters space it is flying horizontally.
The ThothX Tower will eliminate the need for the vertical flight and drop-off stages, which are very energy intensive.
“In our concept, you ascend electrically and remove the whole vertical launch phase,” Quine said. “Then you get into a space plane, which is like a passenger jet, and take off horizontally.”
An elevator to space has been a longstanding idea as an alternative to rocket ships, but has always been believed as unfeasible because no known material can support itself at such a height. Thoth’s design sidesteps this problem by building the elevator to 20km so it sits within the stratosphere rather than all the way in the geostationary orbit, where satellites fly.
The tower, pneumatically pressurized and actively guided over its base, could also be used for wind-energy generation and communications, according to Thoth Technology.
Quine said the tower will also be open to tourists, providing a way for people to experience space-like conditions without losing gravity.
Citing science-fiction author Arthur C Clarke’s proposal of a space elevator in his 1978 novel The Fountains of Paradise, Quine explains in the patent that a space elevator could be constructed with a cable and counterbalanced mass system.
Thoth’s president and CEO, Caroline Roberts, said space travel, coupled with self-landing rocket technologies being developed by other companies, will bring a new era of space transportation.
“Landing on a barge at sea level is a great demonstration, but landing at 12 miles above sea level will make space flight more like taking a passenger jet,” she said in the statement.
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This is a fantasy-type article geared towards making a 99% seem they are those global 1% mapping out regions of the Moon or Mars to stake a claim just as the GOLD RUSH OF THE WILD WEST. What was Federal government mapping over decades of mineral deposits on all solar system planets now in the hands of a few to build structures to profiteer.
These fantasy games are taking WE THE PEOPLE to what will be that future in maybe 3 decades. So, again this motive drives those Foreign Economic Zones with the soaring use of rare earth and other minerals almost depleted from Earth----creating the highest level of CLIMATE CHANGE conditions for GLOBAL CITIZENS---not to mention another PIPELINE TO PRISON ----it is always PENAL COLONIES exiled to the worst of living conditions---think living in a planetary dome forever moving in space gear with oxygen gear always tethered as one works mines is attractive? OF COURSE NOT UNLESS YOU ARE THAT 5% TO THE 1% ROBBER BARON THIEVES CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA being held accountable!
Citizens thinking Obama and Clinton neo-liberal softening of prison pipeline was a left social progressive policy and not preparing for pushing citizens into a global labor pool and goals like this planetary colonizing being more of the same---only worse.
Where in the global Foreign Economic Zone nation will our children and grandchildren be sent becomes will it be MOON OR MARS.
All of these several decades of research by our public universities and astrological institutions now being used by a global 1% to reap trillions of dollars in resources none of which comes back to 99% OF WE THE PEOPLE.
THIS IS A LONG ARTICLE PLEASE GLANCE THROUGH TO SEE WHAT ASTROPHYSICISTS ARE LOOKING FOR IN PLANETS AND SPACE.
How to eliminate a shipload of frustration
Whether space pirates blew up your ship, you want to get rich on the Galactic Trade market, or a black hole broke your warp drive again, planetary pit stops are a necessity in No Man's Sky. They're also time-consuming and frustrating when you're looking for one particular element. (We're looking at you, Iridium.)
We spent dozens of hours planet hopping in No Man's Sky, shooting some serious side eye at the seeming randomness, convinced that there must be a better way to find elements.
Turns out, there is: No Man's Sky has a secret visual language. Learn it, and the miasma of locating resources will smell a lot less like a flatulent Gek.
Whether you're scouring a garbage planet for Iridium arches or crossing a tundra on the hunt for Chrysonite crystals, we'll teach you how to speak in No Man's Sky native tongue. Learn the language and follow the rules below, and you'll save countless hours of confusion and frustration on planets throughout the universe.
Would you like to know more?
No Man's Sky is a largely solitary experience, but you don't have to travel the universe alone.
This is just one small section of Polygon's No Man's Sky guide. Be sure to check out the rest, where you can learn all about your ship, your Multi-Tool and Companion Units and even get answers to some of the biggest questions about No Man's Sky. We also have a guide to No Man's Sky's resources that'll teach you the difference between Oxides and Silicates as we explain No Man's Sky's elements.
And if you're just looking for a quick reference guide to locations, like where you can save and trade — we've got you covered — too.
Things to know and do before you begin
Before you set out on your journey to strip-mine the entire galaxy, you should know a few things about galactic rules, quitting and upgrading.
The four most important things to know about planetsIn No Man's Sky, planets are the best places to gather resources. But how do you know what resources a planet contains — and what resources it doesn't? It's actually pretty simple. You just have to know what to look for.
If you know four things about a planet, you can make surprisingly accurate predictions about the elements you're likely to find — and, just as importantly, what you won't find, no matter how hard you look.
What are those four things? Good question!
- The planet's weather
- What element lies inside green crystals
- What element lies inside shiny boulders
- What element lies inside other big stone structures
If it's not working, leave
Given No Man's Sky's procedurally generated and random nature, there will invariably be exceptions to the general rules we outline here. But exceptions don't render the rules useless. If something's not working out, there's a very simple solution: Leave, and try again somewhere else.
For example, based on our testing, there is a clear correlation between shiny boulders (like the one pictured above) and Chrysonite crystals (also pictured above, not even a little bit coincidentally). On a cold planet, find a metal-like boulder, and you're very likely — but not absolutely assured — to find Chrysonite crystals in the surrounding area.
That's the correlation between the important things we mentioned above. The planet is cold, and there's a shiny boulder, and wouldn't you know it, there's some Chrysonite right next door.
We've tested this dozens of times in different games, on different planets, in different galaxies, and the correlation is … mostly … rock-solid. (Sorry not sorry.) However, some small amount of the time, we just didn't find Chrysonite.
If you find yourself in that situation, hop into your starship, fly until you find another golden boulder and try again. Remember: You're on a planet the size of a planet. There's plenty more geography to explore, and there's no reason to stay where you are for more than a minute or two if you can't find what you're looking for.
Upgrade your Scanner to make finding elements easier
When you're on foot, your Scanner is an indispensable tool for finding elements. Press a button, and moments later, your screen fills up with icons showing the locations of nearby elements.
Your basic scanner is fine, but if you have the Companion Unit blueprints for Scanner upgrades, build them. With Scanner upgrades, finding elements is immeasurably easier. It's the difference between seeing what's in your immediate vicinity and seeing everything in what seems like a mile in every direction.
Make the most of your companion units
Upgrading your Scanner will make your life easier and your hunt for elements faster. There's more to upgrading than reading blueprints, though. To get the most out of your Companion Units, be sure to place your upgrades next to each other, a process that we explain in No Man's Sky item placement guide.
Putting it all together
At this point, you know what to look for, you know when to cut your losses and you know that you should upgrade your Scanner. Now it's time to find elements. In the next sections, we'll teach you how to find elements by teaching you how to think about elements.
The five resource classes
Whether you shot a rock or punched a flower to get them, No Man's Sky's resources fall into five classes — Isotope, Neutral, Oxide, Precious and Silicate — each of which has its own associated icons.
Learning element classes and their general applications is immensely helpful and not particularly difficult. Just associate red Isotope resources with fuel, and you won't have to stop and think about what you need every time your weapon runs out of juice or your Launch Thrusters run dry. Just think red, use your Scanner and head toward the red icons on your map.
No Man's Sky sure likes to fill up your screen with icons, and that can get a bit overwhelming. That's why we created the table below, which you can use as a quick reference guide to help you find what you're looking for.
- Class
- Elements
- HUD
- Scanner
- Exotic
- Calium, Murrine, Omegon, Radnox
- Isotope
- Carbon, Plutonium, Thamium9
- Neutral
- Aluminum, Copper, Emeril, Gold, Iridium, Nickel
- Oxide
- Iron, Titanium, Zinc
- Silicate
- Chrysonite, Heridium, Platinum
The first rule of No Man's Sky is: Every planet in the universe has a predictable set of elements.
At the very least, each planet will have all of the elements that you need to get back to space. No Man's Sky won't leave you stranded. Your planet might not have the resources to build every Companion Unit you want, but you'll be able to get the parts together to do basic repairs on any ship you find — or at least refuel your Launch Thrusters.
This is important because many planets won't have the element you're looking for. Rather than continuing your journey around whatever rock you're on, you should leave and look elsewhere. Essential elements allow you to refuel, repair and leave unhelpful planets in your rearview mirror.
The most predictable and easily identifiable elements fall into two broad categories.
Rocks, trees and crystals
On just about every planet, you'll find Iron, Carbon, Plutonium and Heridium.
- Carbon and Plutonium are red Isotope elements that you use to refill things like your health, your weapon charges and your Starship's Launch Truster. Use these to stay alive, shoot things and blast off.
- Heridium is a blue Silicate element "used in the creation of components vital to space exploration," according to its in-game description. In short, if you want to create Antimatter for Warp Cells or construct and upgrade shields and weapons on your Starship, you'll need Heridium.
Flowers
Unless you arrive on a notably desolate space rock devoid of flora, you're likely to find the flowers that give you Platinum, Thamium9 and Zinc.
- Platinum is a blue Silicate element that hides in blue flowers. Whether they upgrade your jetpack, grenade launcher or shields, the blueprints you find everywhere in No Man's Sky are hungry for Platinum.
- Thamium9 is a red Isotope element that, on planets, hides in red flowers with three stalks. As with Platinum, some blueprints want Thamium9, especially if they're upgrades to your Starship. Mostly, though, you'll use Thamium9 to refuel your Starship's Pulse Engine, which lets you travel quickly in solar systems. Frankly, scouring planets for Thamium9 isn't worth your time. If you need some, hop into your ship, blast into space and shoot small asteroids, which you'll find everywhere.
- Zinc is a yellow Oxide element that lives inside of yellow flowers. You're most likely to use it as fuel to recharge your Exosuit and Starship's shields, but plenty of blueprints call for a dash of Zinc, too.
Neutral elements
Essential elements are everywhere, but Neutral elements give No Man's Sky's planets variation. You'll need to find them over and over again, and they don't appear as icons on your Scanner. At best, if you're close enough, they'll show up with a transparent outline of cubes like in the image above.
If you're just running around and guessing about where they might be, the game becomes a slog. Good news: You don't have to guess.
Learn the shapes and colors to look for, and the mystery of how to find, say, Heridium, evaporates. As long as you know to look for monoliths like the one above, all you have you to is hop into your ship and fly around until you see one. And if you don't see one, we'll teach you why you should try another planet.
The two broad types of Neutral resource deposits
Visually speaking, there are two broad types of Neutral resource deposits. For the purposes of this guide, we're going to call them metal-like and Heridium-like, based on their appearance.
Metal-like deposits
Metal-like neutral elements are always either Emeril, Gold or Aluminum. These are shiny and tend to be globular, boulder-like resource deposits.
- Aluminum is a Neutral resource that lives in boulders and green crystals. You'll use Aluminum use to craft upgrades for your Exosuit and Starship. Blueprints are hungry for Aluminum. Just about nothing else is.
- Gold is a Neutral resource that lives in boulders and green crystals. Just like Aluminum, it's used to craft upgrades for your Exosuit and Starship.
- Emeril is a Neutral resource that, on planets, lives in boulders and green crystals. In the early game, you can make good money harvesting and selling Emeril. Later on, you can use Emeril to build upgrades from blueprints or create new elements with recipes, which are effectively blueprints for crafting special resources.
From a distance, the Heridium-like neutral elements — Nickel, Copper and Iridium — look like, well, Heridium, sometimes in shape and always in that they include a bit of shiny, colored reflectivity. (To be clear, Heridium deposits look like monoliths made of stone, with subtle blue streaks throughout.)
Depending on the element, these resource deposits tend to have similar shapes:
- Nickel deposits look like Heridium's telltale monolithic stone blocks, but with rounded corners.
- Copper deposits tend to be floating, egg-shaped blobs.
- Iridium deposits are red-colored rock arches.
If you find a shiny boulder that holds Gold, you're not going to find a shiny boulder of Nickel on the other side of the mountain or planet. If you find an Emeril boulder, you're not going to find Gold in another similar boulder. You're only going to find Emeril.
To be clear, this exclusionary principle applies to specific shapes. There's still a chance that you can find the resource you're looking for on your current planet, hiding in green crystal formations.
Green crystals
Beneath the surface of every planet — and sometimes on the surface — there are networks of caves and tunnels filled with red Plutonium crystals. Interspersed with these are also green crystals with Neutral resources of either Aluminum, Emeril or Gold.
Again, like the rock-like formations that we discussed in the previous sections, every planet's green crystals will contain only one element. If you find Aluminum along the equator, you'll find Aluminum at the north pole.
Green crystals are weird
Green crystals are one of the most confusing visual indicators in No Man's Sky because they're special (or weird, depending on your mood).
Contrast them with their cousins, the ubiquitous Plutonium crystals. On every planet and moon in the galaxy, Plutonium crystals — and only Plutonium crystals — are red. Shoot a red crystal on at the edge of a galaxy on Tfksdkfasdfa Dddekooppp or hundreds of thousands of light years away on Lerempasfffaaa Pllljjjooooo THX1138, and you'll always get Plutonium.
But green crystals mean different things on different planets. Shoot one on Fldkafsd Kkosodafksd III, and you get Emeril. Shoot one on Nhjjjjas Okdaslassssssszzzzzpppppppppp, and you get Gold.
There is one commonality, though: Either way, you're getting a Neutral element.
Also, just like Heridium-like elements, there's only one type per planet. Whether it's the fourth or the 400th green crystal you shoot on Olasldlasldfasdf Zsasdasffff Prime, every green crystal on Olasldlasldfasdf Zsasdasffff Prime will give you the same element, whether that's Aluminum, Emeril or Gold.
How to find green crystals
When you first land on a planet, ping your Scanner and look for a cluster of red lightning bolt icons mixed with gray treasure chest (or lunchbox) icons.
Context is particularly important here. No Man's Sky uses the same gray icon to denote loot crates and green crystals. That's why you should look for gray icons alongside red Isotope icons. Like in the image above, gray treasure chest icons nestled among red lightning bolt icons are the telltale sign of green crystals.
When you've found a green crystal, shoot it, and you'll know what every green crystal on the planet contains.
The element you find in the green crystals is not related to the element you find in the metal-like deposits. Usually — but not always — they're different. But if there are Gold deposits above ground, you can (and frustratingly often will) also find Gold in the green crystals. This doesn't happen every time, but you can't assume they'll be different.
Blue and yellow crystals
There are two other kinds of crystals you might find on a planet: blue Chrysonite and yellow Titanium. These don't exist on every planet, but there are some general rules you can use to make your search more efficient.
Chrysonite crystals
Blue Chrysonite crystals tend to live on cold planets. Here's an easy way to remember that: Blue equals cold. If there's no snow or the occasional freezing rainstorm wherever you are, you're probably not going to find Chrysonite crystals.
Chrysonite, a Silicate resource, is a great example of an element we ignored for hours until we needed it for a Companion Unit and then couldn't find it.
Use your Scanner to find Chrysonite crystal formations. Chrysonite shows up with a blue flask icon, just like Plutonium flowers. As we mentioned above, if you're on the hunt for Chrysonite, you'll find it next to a metal-like element deposit — a big, shiny boulder. Ping your Scanner around one of these, and you're likely to see those telltale blue Silicate icons in your immediate vicinity.
Titanium crystals
Finding yellow Titanium crystals is a lot rarer but also less exciting than finding Chrysonite, because you can harvest Titanium pretty quickly when you kill No Man's Sky's ever-present Sentinels. No matter where you find it, the Oxide element is useful for recharging your shields and crafting blueprints for high-level upgrades.
Use your Scanner to find Titanium, an efficient fuel for your Hazard Protection Companion Units and repairing your shields. It will appear on your HUD with Oxide's yellow brick icon.
Titanium crystals seem to show up more often on hot or dry planets. Planetary dryness is tough to get a feel for when you're just walking around, so watch the planet's weather information when you first land. Look for words like "arid," "dusty" or "baked."
If you ignored this information when it popped up (like we always do), you can find it in your Discoveries menu (press Options on the PlayStation 4). Hover over the name of the planet you're currently on — it's the highlighted one — and you'll find information about weather, Sentinels, flora and fauna, just like in the image above.
Exotic elements and Trade Commodities
Exotic elements like Calium, Radnox, Murrine and Omegon tend to show up on Extreme planets — made so either by the environment or Sentinel activity.
You can find Trade Commodities like Gravitino Balls, Vortex Cubes and Albumen Pearls on these planets, too. Use your Scanner to find these items, which appear with a green exclamation point icon.
These exotic elements (and the occasional Trade Commodity) are crafting requirements for the higher-level Companion Units for your Exosuit, Multi-Tool and Starship.
Sentinels get really angry when you pick up Trade Commodities like Gravitino Balls, so you can farm them for a healthy profit so long as you don't mind shooting the occasional Big Dog-looking Sentinel.
Putting it all together
Checking just a couple things can help you determine if a planet is worth the investment of your time, and it's easy to do if you know what to look for. Often, you don't even have to land to figure out what's on a planet.
If you're feeling comfortable in your cockpit and you don't want to go for a walk, fly at low altitude and focus on identifying the element deposits other than Heridium. (Heridium is almost everywhere, so that doesn't help with the process of elimination.)
Finding the metal-like elements is easy: Just look for shiny deposits. For the Heridium-like elements, you have to watch a little closer. Watch for the rounded edges of Nickel, the floating orbs of Copper or the distinctive arches of Iridium. Finding these two elements is often enough information to decide if you should even land.
Remember: The first time you land on a planet, you'll receive information about its environment. (And if you miss it, you can find it in the Discoveries menu.) Between knowing this and looking around, you'll be able to make educated guesses about a number of important things. For example, looking at the image above, you should be able to tell whether there are Chrysonite crystals (cold planets) or Titanium crystals (dry planets) around.
Wherever you land, you can usually find a cave or tunnel nearby that will let you check on the green crystal Neutral element without much trouble, too.
If you take these few steps, you can save yourself a lot of miles of walking and a shipload of frustration by judging a planet quickly.
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Here is far-right wing CATO----global ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE think tank saying its time to privatize NASA----well yeah if you are the global rich wanting all control of any resources mined and harvested ---you wouldn't want research and technology funding government for A 99% OF WE THE PEOPLE----whether ethics and morals finds these goals of human value----it would be the wealth harvested coming back to our government coffers that funded a quality of life----not making the extreme rich more extremely rich.
So, privatization of NASA started under Obama---well, officially handing segments of space industry to private concerns as happened a few decades ago to JOHNS HOPKINS with HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE while private universities normally would not partner with government because they GROW TO BE GLOBAL CORPORATIONS as with Johns Hopkins. Hubble telescope does absolutely marvelous science but it creates that mineral mapping for team GLOBAL 1%.
Under the guise that private sector development will be SAFER-----OH, REALLY? When has that ever happened?
Of course Baltimore Sun will post an op-ed like this pro-privatization with almost no discussion of why all this would be bad for 99% of citizens. Which institution is beginning to call all its research and development PROPRIETARY and patents its products---JOHNS HOPKINS. These scientific advances are critical to the world's 99% of citizens and should not be allowed to be PRIVATIZED.
Time to Privatize NASA
By Edward L. Hudgins
This article originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun.
John Glenn’s 1962 spaceflight and the Apollo moon landings were inspiring achievements. Unfortunately, the recently announced plan to give the 77-year-old Mr. Glenn a seat on a space shuttle is NASA’s version of bread and circuses. It is entertainment, a way to draw attention from that agency’s truly astronomical costs.
Why are no regularly scheduled commercial spaceflights available for Mr. Glenn to book? Because no government agency that runs with the efficiency of the Pentagon and the U.S. Postal Service will ever realize the dream of commercially viable orbiting stations or moon bases.
A history of flight
Put the progress in spaceflight in historical perspective. The Wright brothers’ first flight was in 1903, and Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. By the late 1930s, the first commercially viable aircraft, the DC-3, was flying. But 35 years after Mr. Glenn’s first flight, travel into space is still an expensive luxury.
Should we have expected better? If the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had backed out of the civilian space business after the moon landing, yes.
Consider the progress in other areas. The inflation-adjusted cost of commercial air travel has dropped by about 30 percent since the late 1970s, when airline deregulation began. And the cost of shipping oil has dropped by as much as 80 percent in a little over two decades. But the government’s reusable shuttle has actually made spaceflight more expensive.
In his book “Space Enterprise: Beyond NASA,” space specialist David Gump calculates that even using NASA’s own very low cost-per-flight figures in the 1980s, the cost to put a pound of payload into orbit on the shuttle was $6,000. That compares to an inflation-adjusted figure of only $3,800 for the Saturn V expendable launch vehicles that carried men to the moon.
But this analysis is too kind to the shuttle. Duke University Professor Alex Roland, taking into account shuttle-development costs that NASA ignores in its news releases, pegs the per-pound price at $20,000. Other overhead would mean a cost as high as $35,000 per pound. So if a 160-pound John Glenn were sent up as shuttle cargo, total postage would run between $3.2 million and $5.6 million. But as a passenger on a shuttle flight with a crew of seven, at more than $1.5 billion per flight, his ticket actually costs between $214 million and $286 million. Hardly the right stuff at the right price.
No thanks, private sector
The government has had many opportunities to turn over civilian space activities to the private sector. In the 1970s, American Rocket Co. was one of the private enterprises that wanted to sell launch services to NASA and private businesses. But NASA was moving from science to freight hauling, and planned to monopolize government payloads on the shuttle and subsidize launches of private cargo as well. The agency thus turned down American Rocket.
In the late 1980s, Space Industries of Houston offered, for no more than $750 million, to launch a ministation that could carry government and other payloads at least a decade before NASA’s station went into operation. (NASA’s station currently comes with a price tag of nearly $100 billion for development, construction and operations.) NASA, not wishing to create its own competition, declined Space Industries’ offer.
In 1987 and 1988, a Commerce Department-led interagency working group considered the feasibility of offering a one-time prize and a promise of rent to any firm or consortium that could deliver a permanent manned moon base. When asked whether such a base were realistic, private-sector representatives answered yes — but only if NASA wasn’t involved. That plan was quickly scuttled.
Each shuttle carries a 17-story external fuel tank 98 percent of the distance into orbit before dropping it into the ocean; NASA could easily — and with little additional cost — have promoted private space enterprise by putting those fuel tanks into orbit. With nearly 90 shuttle flights to date, platforms — with a total of 27 acres of interior space — could be in orbit today.
These could be homesteaded by the private sector for hospitals to study a weightless Mr. Glenn or for any other use one could dream of. But then a $100 billion government station would be unnecessary.
As long as NASA dominates civilian space efforts, little progress will be made toward inexpensive manned space travel. The lesson of Mr. Glenn’s second flight is that space enthusiasts ignore economics at their peril.
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Now, Obama privatized not only astronaut launching but the space shuttle system and what will become the movement of humans and cargo ----ergo, all of what will be this planetary colonization and mining structure. Yes, no doubt our NASA scientists like the idea of being corporate employees rather than government and yes, if private industry owns this process global Wall Street pols will fund it more heavily----so we don't want to take from the excitement of scientists----although we will note a high percentage of civilian space scientists were fired----as global staff takes hold---there goes another middle-class professional category.
So the shouts of JOBS, JOBS, JOBS from global Wall Street pols and players takes the same appearance of the best of salaried professional jobs going to be replaced at no net gain of jobs----
Obama Plan Privatizes Astronaut Launchings
By KENNETH CHANGJAN. 28, 2010
President Obama will end NASA’s return mission to the moon and turn to private companies to launch astronauts into space when he unveils his budget request to Congress next week, an administration official said Thursday.
The shift would “put NASA on a more sustainable and ambitious path to the future,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the changes have angered some members of Congress, particularly from Texas, the location of the Johnson Space Center, and Florida, the location of the Kennedy Space Center.
“My biggest fear is that this amounts to a slow death of our nation’s human space flight program,” Representative Bill Posey, Republican of Florida, said in a statement.
Mr. Obama’s request, which will be announced on Monday, would add $6 billion over five years to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s budget compared with projections last year. With the increase, NASA would receive $100 billion over the 2011 through 2015 fiscal years.
The new money would largely go to commercial companies that would provide transportation to and from the International Space Station. Until now, NASA has designed and operated its own spacecraft, like the space shuttles.
The commercial rockets would displace the Ares I, the rocket that NASA has been developing for the past four years to replace the shuttles, which are scheduled to be retired this year. Companies expected to seek the new space taxi business include United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that launches rockets for the United States Air Force, and Space Exploration Technologies, a start-up company led by Elon Musk, who founded PayPal.
Speaking at a news conference in Israel on Wednesday, Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., the NASA administrator, gave hints of the new direction. “What NASA will focus on is facilitating the success of — I like to use the term ‘entrepreneurial interests,’ ” General Bolden said.
Skeptics wonder whether the commercial approach would be significantly faster or cheaper than completing the Ares I and the Orion capsule that would carry the astronauts, and how astronaut safety would be maintained. NASA has spent about $9 billion on Ares I and Orion.
“We have already spent valuable time and billions of dollars developing this program,” Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, said in an e-mail statement. “It makes no sense to throw away a plan backed by 50 years of NASA experience and institutional knowledge in favor of start-up operations, which may encounter delays and unknown obstacles.”
Mr. Obama’s proposal would further dismantle what remains of the human spaceflight initiative started by the Bush administration in 2004. Last year, $3.5 billion in spending was cut from President George W. Bush’s NASA budget projection for 2011 through 2013, money that would have been used to develop the lander that was to return astronauts to the moon by 2020.
The proposed budget increase would also be much less than the $3-billion-a-year increase that a blue-ribbon committee appointed by the Obama administration said was needed for NASA to successfully pursue a human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit.
As widely expected, Mr. Obama’s request will seek to extend the life of the space station five years, to 2020. It also proposes investments to improve the facilities at the Kennedy Space Center.
The retirement of the space shuttles will cost at least 4,600 of the 15,000 jobs at the Kennedy Space Center. The administration official said the commercial launching initiative could create up to 1,700 jobs in Florida, but that figure is based on projections of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a trade group.
Sally K. Ride, a former astronaut who served on the blue-ribbon panel, said she was encouraged by the budget increase for NASA in light of the planned freeze on domestic spending over all.
“They plan to be sending people beyond low-Earth orbit, and they have a good formulation,” Dr. Ride said. “I think the way to evaluate this plan when it’s rolled out is to ask whether the administration has given NASA the funds for what it’s asked to do.”
“It appears to me the answer is yes,” Dr. Ride said, based on briefings she had received on the plans.
She said the administration took options the panel presented and “came up with an innovative approach for NASA.”
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Below is just one of those global 1% and their corporation created from our NASA space program-----when we take away government oversight and accountability of industry so fraught with dangers---with the need for human volunteerism for dangerous missions---the need to know the effects on human body as they MOVE FORWARD----now all dismantled and deregulated with privatization---we will not KNOW what SpaceX does to its employees or where they are in development.
Here is an ELON MUSK as that global 1% owning his own industry using all the space technology research over several decades by public agencies.
Whether one thinks privatization is right-----there is no shared benefit from all these government funded programs whereas for centuries everyone had the benefit in starting a small business tied to these industries.
SpaceX Sued for Laying Off 400 Workers Without Proper Notice or Wages
Nitasha Tiku
08/08/14 04:39PM
Filed to: spacex
On Monday former employees of SpaceX, Elon Musk's own private NASA, filed a proposed class action lawsuit. The complaint alleges that SpaceX "ordered the mass layoffs of between 200 and 400 workers" in late July without properly notifying them or paying the wages they were owed.
Law360 reports:
"Plaintiffs and other similarly situated employees also seek recovery of waiting time penalties as a result of defendants' failure to pay employees all wages due and owing at the time of their termination," the complaint says.
The plaintiffs allege that SpaceX's decision was "willful," according to the legal news site:
Among the fired workers were plaintiffs Bobby R. Lee and Bron Gatling, who worked as structural technicians in the company's Hawthorne facility. They claimed SpaceX's failure to pay the fired employees all wages earned before termination in accordance with the California Labor Code was willful.
SpaceX is based in Hawthorne, California, where those named plaintiffs worked. The company was recently offered $15 million in incentives to build a new launch facility in Texas. I have reached out to SpaceX and will update the post if I hear back.
Update: Here is a copy of the complaint.
Complaint Against SpaceX for Lost Wages after Mass Layoffs
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When national or international media promotes data or research these days of ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE GLOBAL 1% controlling all media be sure to look for articles that will say---oh, Mars is worthless for minerals or ore-----here we see alternatives. The privatization of vital space surveillance telescopes to global corporations like Johns Hopkins et al-----takes all these NASA and HUBBLE images out of public domain and the only scientists accessing what actual finding we have are those vested to profiteering ----the global 1%. One thing about the DARK AGES -----the global MERCHANTS OF VENICE were keen on not allowing those pesky 99% of serfs know the value of discoveries.
Where our once public universities wanted open research and data sharing with nations globally-----now all that data is proprietary and we don't know what minerals a Mars or Moon has for sure. We know of the goal of penal colonies as that occurs for all empire-building but we can be sure they would not be expanding these MOON/MARS developments if not something there for which to profit. Indeed these will be used to stage deep space colonization but would we go to a Mars to do that? Possibly but that is a really heavy investment for a really long-term project-----
'Penal colonies are colonial territories meant exclusively as correctional facilities for convicts. The prisoners are often used for labor in mines or other industrial facilities on the colonies. Vessels are used to transport prisoners, ore and resources between penal colonies are known as prison ships. While none have been explicitly named, the Unified Earth Government is known to have more than one penal colony.[1] Mars' largest natural satellite, Phobos, has a penal colony on its surface'.
See what a REAL left social Democrat organization---think tank----candidate would be shouting and promoting discussion? We don't have that left leaning voice in our public universities or in corporate non-profits pretending to be 99% WE THE PEOPLE.
Colonizing Ceres Before Mars Could Save The Red Planet
Posted by darnell on Oct 10, 2007 in Asteroids, Blog, Ceres, Mars, Solar Essay
Some people say Mars is our next home. Other people say Mars is utterly worthless. Regardless of the viewpoint, humans will probably end up visiting the place for “eternal glory,” if not for scientific reasons.
Whether or not our species actually settles the red planet is highly questionable. Unlike Earth’s Moon, Mars lacks major resources of any kind that would make colonizing the planet worthwhile. Unless those crimson deserts can provide some return on investment, it may be wiser to turn Mars into a penal colony, than attempting to recreate the world into a second home.
But humanity may be able to justify settling Mars by diverting its attention towards the asteroid belt first–and the key towards conquering the asteroid belt, as well as Mars may lie upon the dwarf world Ceres.
Despite their major differences, both Mars and Ceres share a few similarities. Both worlds harbor abundant supplies of water, respectively, and both worlds are located closer to the metal rich “zone” of the asteroid belt than our home world.
Ceres however is located within the “mineral field of dreams,” dancing around the sun between 2.5-3 AU (or astronomical units). This places the icy world in the heart of the metal rich zone, the majority of which can be found orbiting our star between 2 and 3.5 AU.
Its prime location gives it an enormous advantage over the red giant, as well as a motivation for both national governments and companies to visit this lonely dwarf planet.
Ceres also has a lower gravity well than either Earth or Mars, making rocket launches off of the asteroid king very inexpensive. Boasting 3% Earth gravity, Cerian colonies would be able to easily transport precious metals back to our home world (from other asteroids) without the need for large amounts of rocket fuel.
Ceres’s prime location as well as its gravitational benefits could (like Earth’s moon) help jump start our solar economy, if not give it a second wind. But how would an active mining industry aid a future Martian colony? After all, if Mars has very little to offer our species financially, why even bother colonizing it?
Despite the fact that Ceres has an abundant supply of water, that supply is finite and will not last forever. As the number of asteroid colonies increase throughout the asteroid belt, so too will the demand for water. Although Earth has plenty of water to spare, it may be simply too expensive to rocket the precious liquid to quench the thirst of asteroid minors.
As the demand for water increases, so will the cost of transporting it from Ceres’s dwindling supplies. While launching water from Earth may not be affordable, launching it from Mars probably will. With only 38% Earth gravity, the crimson planet would have a much shallower gravity well than our blue home world, enabling it to meet the future water demand at an affordable price.
Although Mars may ultimately provide a second habitat for humanity, it may make business sense to refocus our efforts on the asteroid belt first. Not only would it sustain political support from various Earth governments over time (mainly because of the money), but it would satisfy the “why space” questions in the public, without resorting to a short hand list.
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