Someday, our progeny may live may travel to the Uranus system, settle its largest moons, and create a thriving economy based on resource extraction, exploration, tourism, and lots of diamonds!
Host | Matthew S Williams
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Episode Notes
Someday, our progeny may live may travel to the Uranus system, settle its largest moons, and create a thriving economy based on resource extraction, exploration, tourism, and lots of diamonds! With the right strategies and technologies, there could be a branch of humanity someday known as Uranians (don't laugh!).
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The Great Migration: Living on Uranus' Moons | Stories From Space Podcast With Matthew S Williams
[00:00:00] The author has acknowledged that this podcast was recorded on the
traditional unseated lands of the Lekwungen peoples. Hello, and welcome back
to Stories from Space. I'm your host, Matt Williams. And today we're going to
carry on with the Great Migration. In previous episodes, we looked at how
humans may someday live on the moon, on Mars, on Mercury and Venus,
giving rise to new segments of the human population known as Luites () or
Loonies), Martians, Cythereans , and Hermians. We then looked at how human
settlement may one day spread to the asteroid belt, and beyond, to Jupiter's
largest moons, the Jovians, Saturn's largest moons, the Cronians, and today,
we'll take a look at how humans may someday come to live on Uranus's largest
moons, giving rise to a population known as Uranians.
Now, this is a [00:01:00] serious topic, people, so get your giggles out now. All
good? Okay, let's begin. The first thing you need to know about Uranus and
Neptune are that they fall into a separate class of gas giants, often known as ice
giants. The reason for this is that in addition to hydrogen and helium, which
make up the majority of their atmospheres, just like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune also contain abundant volatile elements like water, ammonia,
methane, and various hydrocarbons.
Presence of methane in particular is what gives these planets their characteristic
blue color. And based on planetary modeling, scientists believe that the
structure of ice giants is differentiated between a gaseous outer envelope, an icy
mantle in the middle, and a rocky metallic core. The term ice refers to volatile
elements in the interior being compressed to the point where they become solid.
So, [00:02:00] while there is solid water, methane, and ammonia within the
interiors of these planets, it's due to pressure rather than low temperatures. And
in keeping with the planetary nomenclature, Uranus is named after the ancient
Greek god Uranus, the primordial god of the sky in the Greek pantheon, who
mated with Gaia, the primordial earth goddess, to produce the Titans.
Given that the neighboring planet Saturn was named after Cronus, the chief of
the Titans, who overthrew Uranus to produce the Olympian gods, and given that
Uranus orbits beyond Saturn, tradition dictated that it be named after Cronus
predecessor. And while Uranus is sometimes visible to the naked eye, It was
traditionally thought to be a star and not recognized as a planet until the 18th
century.Its largest moons began to be observed shortly thereafter. These include Titania,
Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel, and Miranda. Instead of [00:03:00] being named after
figures from Greek mythology, the moons were named after characters from
Shakespearean plays and the works of Alexander Pope. This tradition has
continued well into the 20th century, as more moons and moonlets were
discovered.
So, for Oberyn, Titania, and Puck, the names are all derived from fairies and
sprites from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Umbriel and
Belinda are derived from characters from Alexander Pope's The Rape of the
Lock, and Miranda and several retrograde moons are named after characters in
Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Other names include Mob and Margaret, whose names are taken from Romeo
and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing. And like the majority of satellites in
the outer solar system, the Uranian satellites are believed to be composed of
roughly equal parts water, ice, and rocky material. Which are differentiated
between icy surfaces, rocky interiors, metallic cores, and for many, there's the
[00:04:00] potential of there being a liquid water ocean between the core mantle
boundary.
This is certainly true of Titanium Oberon, but in the case of these moons, it's not
so much tidal heating that leads to the creation of the oceans, as much as the
presence of ammonia and other volatile compounds that are, that have a very
low melting point. And, correspondingly, A very low freezing point, and these
are typically referred to in this context as anti freeze.
In addition, because of their lower density, which is directly attributable to
water, ice, and volatiles making up a large percentage of their composition, the
surface gravity of Uranus's largest moons is very low. Ranges from around 3. 7
percent for Titania, and point And 0. 8 percent for Miranda. So when it comes
to the potential for these interior oceans to host life, which of course [00:05:00]
is a going concern wherever ocean worlds exist, there is some doubt that any of
the Uranian moons could in fact host life or be habitable in their interiors.
In addition, the low gravity also means that options for settlement are a bit
limited, at least on the surface of these moons. However, this can be remedied,
as with other locations in the solar system where the gravity is particularly low,
by creating pinwheel stations, also known as von Braun wheels, or Stanford
toruses, and O'Neill cylinders in space.And these stations would provide simulated gravity, this way people would be
able to live on surfaces of some of the larger moons, and conduct various
economic activities such as mining the ice, mining for volatiles, and providing
for space tourism. And of course, very lucrative scientific research, [00:06:00]
which could include the study of microorganisms, or more complex lifeforms,
should they actually exist, within the interior oceans.
And this could give rise to sizable settlements, and people would simply need to
retire to the rotating stations periodically for gravity therapy. If they're spun up
to the right degree, they can provide the sensation of Earth normal gravity, and
this would also be, as in other cases, advisable for pregnant nursing women or
medical patients who are recovering from injury or ailments that benefit from
the presence of Earth normal gravity.
These stations would also serve as an important waypoint for ships coming to
and from the outer solar system. So if in fact an economy was to be built up in
the Uranians and quite possibly beyond that over to Neptune in the trans
Neptunian region, [00:07:00] the large station which can rotate to provide
simulated gravity and see to all the needs of residents and visiting patrons.
and can provide access to Neptune's system of moons, would be very desirable.
And in keeping with the nomenclature, this station could be named Sky Station
or, or something else that alludes to the primordial god Uranus or his
counterparts from other pantheons. Just a few examples, but Aditi, which from
the Hindu tradition was the celestial mother of the gods.
You've got Asman from ancient Iran, or Ohura Mazda, or Poor Mazd, which
was the sky father in the ancient Iranian and Zoroastrian traditions. Faiyaten
from Thailand, which is the personification of the sky. Or [00:08:00] again,
from the Greer, Roman traditions, Ather or Aurora, which were associated with
the atmosphere and the dawn.
And given that, and given that Aurora had not Aurora, and given that Uranus
has beautiful Aurora, which have been monitored by, and given that our tele
telescopes have detected rather impressive Aurora in Uranus atmosphere, this
would seem highly appropriate. You've also got Amun and Ra from ancient
Egypt, which were, of course, merged to create Amun Ra.
Now, Amun was the god of creation and the wind, and Ra was the god of the
sun. So once they were merged together, it was, you had Amun Ra the sky god,
also a fitting name. Um, in East Africa, there are several, and in East Africa,
you've got Wok or Waka, which is the name of the Sky and Creator God formany people who are part of [00:09:00] the Kushite language family, so that
includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Convum, the supreme creator, god, and sky
father among the, among the Mbuti people of the Congo region, or the Celtic
Nuada, god of the sky, wind, and war.
Although, if you really want to get primordial, the name Diaeus literally
translates to daylight sky god, and is a reconstructed name from the Preto Indo
European mythology, which inspired many of these traditions, ranging From
Europe to Central Asia, India, and Iran, all of which are good choices. And
since several stations would probably be considered optimal, you'd have no
shortage of possible names to use.
Another thing that these stations and settlements on the surface would facilitate
is harvesting resources directly from Uranus's atmosphere. This [00:10:00]
would, of course, include methane and hydrogen, helium, all of which would be
a boon for various industries, not the least of which would be terraforming.
Mars, in order to be brought up to Earth like temperatures, would need a lot of
greenhouse gases, of which methane is a super greenhouse gas.
And, of course, ammonia, which would be used for the same purpose. And
hydrogen and helium would further fuel the fusion economy. But, as fans of
planetary science may already know, Uranus is believed to have diamond rings
inside of its atmosphere. So, essentially, carbon molecules are compressed to
the point where they become diamonds, and atmospheric circulation allows
them to be thrown around like rain droplets.
Or giant hailstones would be the more accurate description. Now, while it's
likely that humanity at this point in the future, if we're speculating about when
and how they may settle into [00:11:00] the outer solar system, they are likely
to be able to synthesize diamonds rather easily from just compressing carbon.
But being able to harvest diamonds directly from Uranus's atmosphere and other
gas giants in the outer solar system, well, at the very least that would be a
luxury item. Genuine diamonds produced by incredible pressure and
atmospheric processes. Plus, they would also be a cheap form of diamond that
could definitely give synthetic diamonds a run for their money, and would
likely be used.
Would likely be used, and would likely be used in the creation of space stations,
not the least of which would be for the purpose of creating large panoramic
windows that can withstand terrible pressure differentials and high speed
impacts without breaking and causing explosive decompression. Also, locallyharvested hydrogen and helium is going to be especially important for
[00:12:00] settlements in the outer solar system, given that solar energy is far,
far less in terms of what you can absorb and convert into electricity using solar
panels.
It's far, far less in the outer solar system, to the point where it's Not considered a
viable means of providing any kind of power. Certainly not to massive space
stations or large scale settlements on the surface of Uranus's moons. And, as I
noted earlier, the gravity on these moons is quite low, to the point of being
microgravity like.
So, almost as if you were standing in free space, rather than on the surface of a
body. In addition to rotating space stations that simulate gravity, that can
provide
There's also the benefits that microgravity can have for the assembly of
advanced materials, of biotechnology, of pharmaceuticals, and for [00:13:00]
manufacturing in general. In fact, microgravity and in space assembly and
construction, this is something that is being closely studied. Looked at by
various space venture firms, when the commercialization of low Earth orbit
becomes a reality, this is precisely one of the industries that they hope to see
proliferate.
There's even research being done right now on how to send payloads to space so
they can benefit from the microgravity there, not the least of which, as I said, is
pharmaceuticals and bioresearch. Cell cultures and various organic compounds,
they tend to grow better and proliferate in microgravity. So, this is something
that Uranus's moons could certainly facilitate.
And certainly the creation of settlements on these moons. It would offer endless
opportunities for all kinds of recreation and space tourism. People venturing to
the outer solar [00:14:00] system could stay in, stay in hotels on Miranda,
Umbriel, Oberon, and Ariel, Miranda. People destined for the solar system
could stay on one of the moons in, Considerable comfort there with low gravity
and then take shuttles out to Uranus there to dip into the atmosphere to go to the
poles and witness just constant daylight and also visit Uranus's outer rings
because as again, plans of, again, as fans of planetary science are no doubt
aware Uranus, Neptune, all the other gas giants aside from Saturn also have ring
systems.
And these two would be a great deal of fun to navigate, when done safely and
under supervision, of course. And also for scientific research. And that isperhaps one of the best attractions of establishing outposts in the outer solar
system is the way that they would [00:15:00] facilitate exploration in the region,
which has been very, very scant so far in our history.
Reaching the other solar system is challenging and time consuming, and only a
handful of missions have been out there to date. In fact, Uranus and Neptune,
they've been explored only by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which conducted a
flyby of the two planets and their moons and their rings. In 1986, on its way to
the edge of the solar system.
And New Horizons buzzed through this same area as well, but its ultimate
destination was Pluto, and the pictures, as we about all remember, and the
pictures and data it acquired were absolutely amazing. So imagine, if you will,
that we could launch Countless spacecraft from bases located in the outer solar
system.
They could return all kinds of wonderful, beautiful, stunning pictures and data
on all the [00:16:00] bodies in the area. They could narrow the search for Planet
9 or Planet X, assuming it is in fact a planet and assuming that such an object is
there to be found. And they could also reveal a great deal about Well, the gas
giants or the ice giants of the outer solar system, how they formed, how they
evolved, what the atmospheric dynamics are there, and this could reveal
tremendous amounts of some incredible insight into the formation and evolution
of our solar system as a whole.
And last but certainly not least, and I saved this one for the end, and last but
certainly not least, there's the prospect of how bases and settlements in the
Uranus system would facilitate further expansion and further exploration and
settlement to the trans Neptunian region. So this would of course include
Neptune and its largest moon, Triton.
Possibly some of the smaller ones, and then Pluto, Charon, and the Kuiper belt.
[00:17:00] We could then hop, skip, and a jump and establish settlements on all
the minor planets in the outer solar system. Of course, that's the subject for the
final installment in the series, which will look at the Trans Neptunian region,
including all the bodies just mentioned.
And of course, one thing that I neglected to mention so far is the advanced
propulsion that would be needed. As noted in previous installments, if we are
going to attempt to conduct trade and build an economy in the outer solar
system, and of course ferry people back and forth, as well as manufacture good
resources, transit times need to be drastically cut down.And beyond Jupiter and Saturn, where nuclear thermal and nuclear electric
propulsion are absolutely a must, by the time we get to the outer solar system
with Uranus and Neptune, we're talking about nuclear fusion thrusters. So
instead of nuclear thermal [00:18:00] or nuclear electric propulsion systems that
rely on a reactor to heat propellant, we're talking about nuclear fusion thrusters.
which is then used to generate thrust, or to generate electricity for an ion engine.
Fusion propulsion would involve pellets of deuterium, heavy hydrogen, being
fused to the point, being compressed and fused, most likely by lasers in a
reaction chamber, to the point where they achieve nuclear fusion and the
resulting energy is released to generate propulsion.
And if realized, this would allow ships to go very, very fast and make the trip to
the outer solar system in a reasonable amount of time. We're talking months or
even weeks rather than years. So once again, having lots of hydrogen and
helium on hand, Would ensure that there is enough fuel for nuclear reactors in
the outer solar system and also nuclear propulsion systems.
And [00:19:00] as with all the previously explored destinations that human
beings could settle in our solar system, the ultimate aim here is growth.
Scientific growth, intellectual growth, socio political and economic growth, and
yes, population growth. But it's not so much a desire to add numbers to the
census rolls as it is to have a resource base and enough space that we will be
able to say we are now in a post scarcity era.
With all the benefits that this implies. The challenge of settling out among the
planets, among the many moons of the solar system. There's also the huge
opportunity there to develop all the systems and methods we need in order to
live sustainably with our resource base and our environment. One might think
having all these resources is just going to encourage us to be wasteful, but in
fact, living in space, [00:20:00] living on extraterrestrial bodies, there's no
margin for error when we do this, and everything needs to be closed loop and
recyclable and reusable, at least to the absolute limits of human ingenuity and
technological capability.
And so, in fact, it'll actually encourage us very much to do more with less.
Thanks a lot. And not take risks by being wasteful. At least that's the hope and
the prospect and the ultimate goal. But as Arthur C. Clarke would say, the truth
will be stranger than fiction. And it remains to be seen if humanity will attempt
to accomplish this someday.And what the ultimate outcome will be. But, where we are today, we have a
pretty good idea of what it will take and what's likely to come of it, at least in
the grand scheme of things, at least in terms of the And that wraps up our look
at how human beings may someday settle among Uranus's largest moons
[00:21:00] and within the system itself.
I hope it was informative and only inspired a few cheap laughs. Tune in next
time where we will be discussing the last installment in the series. How human
beings may someday live in the trans Neptunian region, or the outer, outer solar
system. In the meantime, thank you for listening. I'm Matt Williams, and this
has been Stories from Space.