Oct 14, 2020 07:00:00

What is the 'spacecraft for mining asteroid resources' that science fiction writers really thought about?

American science fiction writer

Daniel Suarez is a former information technology consultant who introduced the science fiction novel ' Daemon, ' which depicts how computer programs pose a threat to the real world, and mass-produced autonomous drones and artificial intelligence. He is known for his works such as ' Kill Decision ', which depicts the war. Announced in 2019, DELTA-V depicts the world's first commercial asteroid resource mining project, and Suarez describes the structure of the asteroid resource mining vessel named Konstantin that appears in the film. Mr. himself explains.

Delta-v: Designing the Asteroid Mining Ship'Konstantin' (minor spoilers)
http://daniel-suarez.com/deltav_design.html

Suarez said asteroids near Earth could catalyze the expansion of human activity in the solar system, arguing that they could open up the future for humans and other living things. On the other hand, it is difficult to mine asteroid resources, and it is necessary to invent a method completely different from the mining performed on the earth.

Asteroids are huge mountains that move in near-perfect vacuum, and it is difficult to fix mining equipment on the surface, and astronauts engaged in mining are affected by cosmic rays and microgravity emitted by solar flares . Suarez pointed out that he would continue to receive it. In addition, psychological effects in an isolated environment and coping with happenings are also issues, so it can be said that mining asteroids is a very difficult mission.

'DELTA-V' is a sci-fi thriller depicting people on the resource mining mission of the asteroid Ryugu , and the asteroid resource mining ship 'Konstantin' on which the main characters board in the story plays a major role. Mr. Suarez not only conducted a detailed investigation to design Konstantin's structure, but also held discussions with various experts such as physicists, aerospace engineers, and asteroid mining entrepreneurs.

The appearance of Konstantin designed in this way looks like this. Three arms stick out from the central hub, with a small station at the tip. Each arm is 106m long, and the arm part rotates at a speed of 3 times per minute around the central hub, so that the station at the tip of the arm generates gravity equivalent to the earth.

Two of the three stations are crew living spaces and one is a variety of laboratory stations, including computer-controlled CNC

milling cutters , 3D printers, chemistry, geology, and robotics laboratories. It is. There is a tunnel inside the arm, allowing the crew to move back and forth between each station and the central hub. The angle at which the three arms extend from the central hub is asymmetrical in order to correct the difference in mass between the living space and the experimental station. In addition, a weight is also mounted on the arm, and it is a mechanism that automatically moves on the arm in order to adjust the balance that fluctuates due to the movement of the crew and supplies.

Upon approaching Ryugu, Konstantin hides most of the ship in the shadow of Ryugu to protect its crew from solar flares, sticking only the mast with the PV array out into the sun. Also, since Ryugu's gravity is only 1 / 62,000 of that of the Earth, Konstantin does not use gravity to orbit Ryugu, but automatically controls the position of the station using gas obtained from an asteroid as fuel. To keep it.

Located at the bottom of the central hub is the large optical mining robot 'Honey Bee'. This is a robot designed by

TransAstra Corporation, a real asteroid mining company, which stores rocks carved from the surface of an asteroid and uses two parabolic reflectors to collect sunlight and heat the rocks. The surface will be crushed. Volatile substances and regoliths obtained from rocks are then processed. Underneath the Honey Bee is a reflective solar shield that keeps the methane / liquid oxygen propellant that fuels Konstantin in the shadows.

Also, when using the main engine, the three arms are locked in a folded state so that the arms do not break due to momentum. The main engine burns twice, when it leaves the earth and when it aligns Konstantin's orbit with Ryugu's orbit, but at other times of stability, the arm is expanded and the crew can feel gravity. That is.

What sticks out at the top of the central hub is ...

An

airlock to get out of Konstantin. Gravity decreases from the station at the tip of the arm toward the central hub, creating a microgravity environment at the central hub, allowing the crew to move through the central tunnel to reach the airlock. In addition, it takes about 15 minutes to go back and forth between stations.

The inside of the station, which is the living space for the crew, looks like this. The walls of the station are made of 0.5m thick laminate that can withstand the impact of micrometeorites, with the living room on the upper floors and the bathroom, water tank containing 4000 liters, and storage space for oxygen generators on the lower floors. It has become.

The upper floors are equipped with system kitchens, training machines, medical equipment, etc., and the lower floors are equipped with work spaces and hydroponics kits. A bed for the crew was placed in the center of the upper and lower floors.

The hydroponic cultivation kit in the lower floor, a combination of aquaculture and hydroponic cultivation of fish '

aquaponics has become a' pattern. In addition, the structure was such that it could be moved from the lower floors to the upper floors using a ladder provided on the wall.