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posted by n1 on Monday May 15 2017, @02:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the new-colonial-era dept.

John Timmer at Ars Technica reports:

So, why Titan? The two closer destinations, the Moon and Mars, have atmospheres that are effectively nonexistent. That means any habitation will have to be extremely robust to hold its contents in place. Both worlds are also bathed in radiation, meaning those habitats will need to be built underground, as will any agricultural areas to feed the colonists. Any activities on the surface will have to be limited to avoid excessive radiation exposure.

Would anyone want to go to a brand-new world just to spend their lives in a cramped tunnel? Hendrix and Wohlforth suggest the answer will be "no." Titan, in contrast, offers a dense atmosphere that shields the surface from radiation and would make any structural failures problematic, rather than catastrophic. With an oxygen mask and enough warm clothing, humans could roam Titan's surface in the dim sunlight. Or, given the low gravity and dense atmosphere, they could float above it in a balloon or on personal wings.

The vast hydrocarbon seas and dunes, Hendrix and Wohlforth suggest, would allow polymers to handle many of the roles currently played by metal and wood. Drilling into Titan's crust would access a vast supply of liquid water in the moon's subsurface ocean. It's not all the comforts of home, but it's a lot more of them than you'd get on the Moon or Mars.


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  • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Monday May 15 2017, @03:39AM (8 children)

    by Dunbal (3515) on Monday May 15 2017, @03:39AM (#509742)

    Because creating oxygen-containing habitats on a world chock full of hydrocarbons doesn't present its own very special set of issues. There are lots of variables we can change. Our dependence on a 20% or so oxygen atmosphere to breathe is not one of them. Heck just cleaning potential combustibles off any environmental suit and equipment after a trip "outside" would be a major, major undertaking, not to mention the need to constantly vent contaminated atmosphere out of the airlocks because you don't want ANY of that stuff getting inside - it contains cyanides which are also not exactly friendly to our biology. Honestly I think vacuum would be easier to deal with. John Timmer clearly was just contemplating his navel and not thinking seriously. I'd rather deal with radiation which I can deal with by several feet of dirt than cyanides that can seep through the tiniest failed seal or improperly decontaminated equipment or a spark detonating my entire base because some organic molecule or other managed to work its way in somewhere.

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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 15 2017, @03:53AM (7 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 15 2017, @03:53AM (#509749) Journal

    Maybe 4.9% CH4 and 0.2% H2 can be handled. But you surely identified another important issue. Fail to decontaminate .. *BOOM* Just like in the Martian movie where the airlock blows up, but this one will be for real.

    • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Monday May 15 2017, @04:04AM (6 children)

      by Dunbal (3515) on Monday May 15 2017, @04:04AM (#509752)

      Provided the cyanide doesn't kill you first. 70 parts per million and you're dead in an hour.

      • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 15 2017, @04:07AM

        by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 15 2017, @04:07AM (#509755) Journal

        It's supposedly "trace amounts". The question then becomes how large proportion there really is?

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by kaszz on Monday May 15 2017, @04:57AM (4 children)

        by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 15 2017, @04:57AM (#509769) Journal

        I found the answer in Solar System Astrophysics: Planetary Atmospheres and the Outer Solar System (2014) [google.com] by AvEugene F. Milone,William J.F. Wilson on page 560. Which states that:

        Constituent                       Amount
        N2             (Nitrogen)         80 - 98%
        CH4            (Methane)          0.1 - 20%  [2.2% at 850 km]
        Ar             (Argon)            <1%
        CO             (Carbon monoxide)  29 - 52 ppm
        H2             (Hydrogen)         [20 ppm]
        C2H6           (Ethane)           1 - 15 ppm
        C2H4           (Ethylene)         0.01 - 15 ppm
        C2H2           (Acetylene)        2-5 ppm
        C3H8           (Propane)          0.04 - 0.7 ppm
        CH3C2H         (Methylacetylene)  0.004 - 0.5 ppm
        HCN            (Hydrogen cyanide) 0.05 - 0.5 ppm
        HC3N           (Cyanoacetylene)   <= 0.002 - 0.03 ppm
        CO2            (Carbon dioxide)   0.001 - 0.04 ppm
        C2N2           (Cyanogen)         <= 0.002 - 0.006 ppm
        H2O            (Water)            4 ppb

        And as for toxicity:

        Hydrogen cyanide: LClo 107 ppm (human, 10 min)
        Cyanoacetylene: LDlo? LD50?
        Cyanogen: Recommended exposure limit, 10 ppm
        Ethane: Suffocation risk only, ie replacing oxygen
        Ethylene: Daily exposure limit, 200 ppm
        Acetylene: Recommended exposure limit, 2500 ppm

        It actually seems the atmosphere might be alright from a acute toxicity point of view. Though no MSDS for cyanoacetylene..

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Dunbal on Monday May 15 2017, @05:04AM (3 children)

          by Dunbal (3515) on Monday May 15 2017, @05:04AM (#509774)

          The problem is not necessarily in the atmosphere. At these temperatures (-179 C) a lot of the above compounds will be in solid form so they won't be "in the atmosphere". But you thought bringing slush covered muddy boots into the house was bad, wait until you get melting/boiling cyanide and all those other toxics all over your little moonbase carpet...

          • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 15 2017, @05:26AM (2 children)

            by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 15 2017, @05:26AM (#509783) Journal

            I think you can scrub those compounds away. And it can be handled like on Mars where the outside of the suit never enters the habitat due to dust.

            Can't find any data on what the soil consists of. But atmospheric gases are unlikely to solidify on a shoe that has a higher temperature than the surrounding atmosphere.

            • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday May 15 2017, @06:08AM (1 child)

              by mhajicek (51) on Monday May 15 2017, @06:08AM (#509799)

              Just to a flash burnoff in your airlock / decon room.

              --
              The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
              • (Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Monday May 15 2017, @06:13AM

                by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 15 2017, @06:13AM (#509804) Journal

                Don't need to fill the airlock with oxygen. It can be filled with room tempered nitrogen instead which will vaporize most stuff. While not enabling any burning. The Titan atmosphere is full of N2.