automated refineries

In the relatively near future there may be a workshop on "robot
ecologies" at NASA Ames. The idea is for colonies of robots in space to
explore, mine, prepare for human arrival etc. I'll let this group know
when and where (assuming it comes together).

On Wednesday, May 22, 2002, at 05:47 AM, Brad Walsh wrote:

> Does anybody know of any websites or interesting reading on the
> development
> and use of autonomous robot satellites to refine material (lunar,
> asteroid,
> other) into the parts for an orbiting colony? Seems like so much of the
> expense of launching and keeping a manned refining and manufacturing
> facility working could be avoided if we could just build a clever enough
> robot.
>
> There are some basic writings on colony requirements at
> http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/75SummerStudy/Table_of_Contents1.
> html
> and http://www.permanent.com/ has some more detailed and up-to-date
> work on
> refining in space.
>
> It just seems to me that by launching a sufficiently-smart and carefully
> enough designed robot refinery/factory and waiting 10 years, our colony
> would be ready to move into. But of course that little monster would
> have
> to be very cleverly built indeed. Anybody up to that challenge?
>

The dinosaurs were destroyed by an asteroid because they weren't
space-faring. It's almost as if Gaia then thought "Well, dinosaurs
worked pretty well, but space-faring is necessary. Maybe I'll should
try mammals this time." Humanity is now developing systems to detect and
deflect asteroids, and could build orbital space colonies to spread
beyond Earth to insure life would survive a planetary catastrophe.

Al Globus
CSC at NASA Ames Research Center
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html