Topic: Modest space project idea: Lets make a planet.

[WaterTiger]

 

Quote:
  casimir effect

Ahhhh, stop. My head is hurting.

Is this like the "Dopler Shift"?

I'm gonna be sorry I asked, I know ...  

[Stormbringer]

in the context of ZPE the casmir effect is a way of removing the "virtual" from the phrase virtual particles and utilizing the particles (or their motion) as energy. The casimir effect comes into play when two plates spheres or other charged bodies are in extremely close proximity. The effect is even more pronounced when the charge bodies move away from each other. The more rapidy the more energy can be snagged. Unfortunately at all but the most ludicrous speeds the energy captured from the vacuum by the casimir effect is vanishingly small. Perhaps by creating an array of molecule sized casimir plates on a chip one could create a casimir based ZPE generator that could be used to power something. That is how it stands now. There may yet be a way to get useful amounts of power from the ZPE because theoretically the energy available is infinite.

[Stormbringer]

Back from the dead bump!

[Stormbringer]

To recap: I think there is enough debris and dust bunnies laying about the solar system to make another earth sized planet or modify mars to the mass of earth. I think there is enough cometary material to create an atmosphere comparable to earth's in density and gas make up. I think that with self replicating robotic miners the material could be gathered into one place and set into orbit in th life zone of the sun. I think this could be done economically (relatively speaking.) I think such a project might unite much of the world the way a threat from space would but without all the death and destruction. I think that such a goal is worthy noble and doable.

should we build planets?
Yes.  It would challenge and unit mankind.
Yes, but in the far future and not now.
No. It is impossible, expensive, and risky.
No. We really don't know how and besides there is not enough material.
No. We would be playing God.
What have you been smoking?

 

[Stormbringer]

in light of recent planetary science missions data: BUMP!

[Stormbringer]

Only Three Votes? You're a bunch of space wussies!

[Stormbringer]

Heh. heh. I thought so.

 planetary material  

[nexa1]

 I kind of missed a little. I do like the idea of having 2 planets in the same orbit opposite of eachother. You do realize that this concentrated mass would also alter the path of some planets near by. Not to mention changing the gravitational constant of the solar system.

 Tell me again how do we get the new planet to rotate?
 And how do we get it to revolve around the sun. Using the roadrunner thrust move?


   

[Stormbringer]

The gravity effect would likely be negligible for most of the orbits I'd choose -as the solar life zone is quite large and the climate can be controlled in a number of ways to compensate for distance from the sun.  Greenhouse gases, thier opposite, particulate suspensions, reflectivity and so forth. Tthough Im not sure about gravity effects for for the trojan orbit idea. As for orbit that is what such masses do naturally due to gravity. It is a question of imparting the proper velocity to make a stable orbit rather than one which would crash into the sun. The opposite possibility; a planet achieving solar escape velocity and heading the other way is unlikely.There are precisely acurate equations to determine this starting from Newton's classical equations. Both the the orbital velocity and rotation could be built in as the planet's mass is built up so that massive planetary engines would be unnecessary.  The proper rotation is adjusted by carefully playing billiards with the incoming matter used to form it. Each hit could be controlled to additively alter the rotation and orbit. Likely both robotic processing of raw material on the planets locus and the bombardment method would need to be used to acomplish this.  

[Maxillius]

why don't we just sent our moon a,d Mars's moons to Mars?  I mean, break them all up into tiny bits first, but our moon is more than enough mass to make Mars equal to Earth.

[Stormbringer]

Not really. The moon is a small fraction of the mass needed. Deimeos and Phobos are    microscopic in comparison to the moon.  Put it this way the earth would take about  20(?) perhaps 200 moons to equal it's volume. And pullingthe moon away from earth would cause earthquakes volcanism, gigantic tidal surges and waves floods, perhaps cause weather disruptions and women to have PMS for 28 days straight.    

[nexa1]

Hey... instead of building a new planet... why don't we just move Titan??? Then we could plant a bunch of trees and voila...
 

[Stormbringer]

Titan is a good choice for a terrformable world but without doing much the same to it it would never be earth like. You could build earth like habitats but that would not increase the gravity. It would never be a shirt sleeve environment either. My idea was to manufacture a twin to earth in climate, gravity, and breathable gases. actually the world that could be terraformed into an earthlike world without bombarding it with asteroids and comets would be venus. It is close to earth's gravity and the atmosphere could be cleansed of the sulfuric acid, etc. The upper atmosphere could be seeded with gases that reflect inrared radiation or gigantic mirrors could be orbited around it to regulate the temperature. Movingthe planet would not be necessary. The problem as I see it is manufacturing a rapid means of terraforming the atmosphere. Catalytic elements or geneticly engineered microbes, or plants could conceivably do it. But I have no idea how long the process would take.

[ActiveX]

Why not spark Jupitor?

[Stormbringer]

Estimates of how much mass jupiter would need for stellar ignition have increased from =~jupiter mass to 5,10 or even more times it's present mass. At one time I thought jupiter was on the verge of being a star, it turns out either I got the wrong impression or science's opinion on the subject has been revised.

[ActiveX]

It worked in 2010 I think it was...

[Stormbringer]

2001: A Space Oddesy; at the very end of it.

[nexa1]

 We don't have monoliths anyway.

  I did come across this interesting read tho if anyone is interested about our own solar system.
 solar system

  Saturn's moon Titan

 Here is what I think, and why I think Titan would be better than Venus.Although Venus would be ideal, I don't think that you could move Venus without disrupting the delicate balance of the other inner planets, IE: the Earth, Mercury and Mars.  But you could destroy IO, take all or parts of IO, use the asteroid belt and make a planet big enough for what you are wanting. Plus you already have a heated core and atmosphere with Titan.
 Besides, I am not sure if I understand the whole planetary engine dealie. You can't just stick some thrusters on a planet and move it. The planet still rotates, so unless you stop the planetary rotation (very bad) your thrusters are going to move the planet all over the place.  

[ActiveX]

Pull it with gravity...

[Stormbringer]

In venus's case no moving is necessary. It's orbit is not the reason it is a hell hole. It's atmosphere is. With the right combination of gases it could be forced to have a climate similar to earths tropical zones. Venus gravity equals earth's more or less. It has an active tectonic system and thus a magnetosphere that protects from radiation. It is nearby. The solar radiation would make earth type plants welcome with little tinkering. The other planets and moons would require a lot more work.