Glass, a space colony that will repeat Earth’s gravity to be able to live on the moon

The second space race is in full swing. An important part of this motivation corresponds to private initiatives, whether Satellite stations can act as hotels Or ambitious projects from Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic or SpaceX. Competition is also between countries, such as China and Russia, which last year in detail Joint mission to establish a base on the Moon by 2035or the United States of America and 19 other countries, including Spain, which continues with Artemis mission To emulate and extend the exploits of Apollo 11, the last to join this marathon were the Japanese, who had just given An artificial space habitat and an interplanetary transport system That would connect future human colonies on the Moon and Mars with Earth.

[Búnkeres impresos en 3D: así serán los primeros asentamientos humanos en la Luna]

It is a collaboration between Kajima Construction, one of the leaders in its sector in Japan, responsible for many skyscrapers, railways, power plants, dams and bridges, and researchers from Kyoto University. Last week, at a press conference, the team made up of engineers, technicians and scientists introduced Plans to colonize satellites and planets.

“We envision a future in which humanity will make migration to the Moon and Mars a reality in the second half of the 21st century, and we will define the global ecosystem to build structures such as the central biome complex,” the officials said. for initiative It will first bear fruit in 2050, with a prototype built on our planet.

the glass

The core of the project is Giant habitable cone-shaped structure with artificial gravity, which will have public transportation, green spaces and large bodies of water, as if it were an extension of the land. They named it glass (The Crystal) Its goal, unlike other proposals for human settlements in space, is to avoid complications to the health of future colonists implied by low- and zero-gravity environments.

and that is live without The effect of gravity can affect our physical conditionas astronauts who spent long periods in International Space Station. The body quickly gets used to low gravity and this causes the muscles and bones to lose their strength and “soften” them, which entails various health problems in returning to Earth’s atmosphere and gravity.

In essence, El Cristal is an inverted cone with a height of 400 meters and a radius of 100 meters at its widest point, It spins on itself to create a centrifugal gravity capable of ‘simulating’ the effect of gravity on Earth. The structure makes a full rotation every 20 seconds and in the region where it reaches its maximum radius, it will achieve a gravity of 1G, the same as on Earth.

According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbunthe first simplified prototype will be ready by the middle of this century, but It will take about 100 years to build the final version And be ready to work.

Surprisingly in the video and photos shared by Kajima Construction are the dimensions of the massive vertical cylindrical structure, the presence of Water areas and park-like facilitiesdesigned so that the people who live there feel “at home”.

In fact, there are two structures of this type prepared by Kojima Construction technicians: Lunaglass and Marsglass, which correspond to the Moon and Mars, respectively. To nourish the central biome of both, the key to the project, Items from various terrestrial ecosystems will be transported To simulate life as closely as possible on our planet.

interplanetary transport

In science fiction books and movies, ships are the ultimate heroes when heroes move between planets. In this case, the researchers found a solution that seems more futuristic: A type of interplanetary cable car called Hexatrackable to maintain 1G gravity to mitigate the effect of long exposure to low gravity or zero gravity.

Passengers were going in the so-called hexagonal capsules, Hexagon-shaped 15-meter radius booths are responsible for connecting the Earth and the Moon. Once on Earth’s satellite, there will be another, larger cabin, twice the size, connecting the Moon to Mars.

Cabins have a structure in which the outer shell can float around a central tube Using electromagnetic technology Similar to what Maglev trains use in Germany and China.

The ‘stations’ or gates will not be on the roof, but They will be installed on microgravity or microgravity satellites, to function as artificial celestial bodies It revolves around every planet. Those on Mars will be installed on Phobos, while the Earth Gate is proposed to be the next space station for the International Space Station.

express space

But there is more. Three joint research proposals he made Kyoto University and Kashima Construction are the closest thing to a train: the so-called Space Express. This is a means of transportation The size of Japanese high-speed trains (25 meters long, 3.4 meters wide and 4.5 meters high), it will have six vehicles and will be launched into space with each capsule Attached to a center bar to hold them together.

In order to propel themselves into space, they will install Missile boosters in front and rear vehicles This will allow you to speed up and slow down in outer space and escape the gravitational force of the planets of the solar system.

On atmospheric planets, the wings would extend on either side of the craft to help steer and improve aerodynamics. Once it reaches the surface stations of the Moon and Mars, It will function as a standard gauge train to connect the respective major cities or human colonies previously established.

In the end, the whole project is also about supplying the shortcomings of tasks already scheduled by China, Russia or the United States. “Through the discussions of the past few years, the three pillars we are proposing this time have been Basic technologies that are not in other countries’ development plans They are necessary to ensure the future realization of human colonization of space,” he explained at a press conference Yusuke Yamashiki, one of the project leaders.

You may also be interested in:

Follow the topics that interest you