Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Boom and bust

Ecosystems
TB — (archived)

The Earth's ecosystem is the end result of more than a billion years of adaptation to asteroid strikes, solar variations, ecological catastrophes, and eons of Mother Nature getting back off the mat after almost being down for the count. That the current system works pretty well is not at all surprising, and that it would be difficult to design from scratch would be even less surprising.

Keep it simple, and start by assuming that space colonies are not going to be living in a "hands-off" ecosystem any time in the near future, if at all.

Something like a biosphere is a problem if you're trying to create a biological perpetual motion machine like the Earth (yeah, I know. Not really. Energy comes from outside). However, a large hydroponic system in a space colony could take a lot of load off of a life support system. Yet, if it failed for some reason, the mechanical systems would still be there.

Just like solar power cells. If you are fixated on replacing all hydrocarbon energy with them, you have a nearly insurmountable problem. But if you think along the lines of every new small installation being a few more kilowatts you don't have to burn coal for...

Remember, if you have enough energy to play with, the chemistry of life support becomes pretty easy. Nuclear submarines have brute-force self-sustaining life support, and it works fine because they have power coming out their ears. The weak link is food and other supplies that can't be simply created from raw energy.

So far, nobody in the Navy has suggested sea bottom "Captain Nemo stye" hunts for food.

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