Space resources

[pre]Overview

Themeaningofresourcesisverybroad.Everythingintheuniverse,space,time,andallkindsofspiritualwealthareresources.Leavingasideabstractspiritualwealth,themostimportantformofhumanresourceutilizationistoextractenergytomaintainhumanlifeandthecontinuousdevelopmentofscienceandtechnology.Oneoftheseenergyresourcescomesfromthesun,mainlythelightenergyandheatenergyofthesun’selectromagneticradiation;theothercomesfromtheearth,mainlythethermochemicalenergy,kineticenergyandpotentialenergyofvarioussubstances.Afewdecadesago,theybegantousethefissionofatomicnuclei.Andfusionenergy.Inaddition,someresourcesareusedtomanufacturevarious"hardware"neededforhumanlifeandwork,suchasclothing,houses,vehicles,toys,variousmachinesandequipment,etc.Theseresourcesmainlycomefromtheearth.

Fromthispointofview,theresourcesavailableinspacearemuchmorethanthoseavailableontheearth.Intermsofthesolarsystemalone,thereareabundantmineralresourcesonthemoon,Mars,andasteroids,andthereareabundanthydrogenenergyresourcesonJupiter-likeplanetsandcomets;therearevacuumresourcesinplanetaryspaceandinterplanetaryspace.Radiationresources,largetemperaturedifferenceresources,thesolarenergyutilizationefficiencythereisalsomuchhigherthanontheearth.Theuseofspacecraftflightcanalsoderiveorbitalresourcesandmicrogravityresources.

Thevacuumdegreeintheloworbitspaceof200～500kilometersis10-4Pa,andthehighvacuumdegreeof10-11Painthegeosynchronousorbitof35800kilometers.Thespacevacuumisnotonlypureandpollution-free,butalsolargeinsize,whichisunmatchedbytheartificialvacuumconditionsontheground.

Thesolarradiationdensityintheearth'sorbitis1.4kilowatts/squaremeter,twicethatontheground.Thecosmicradiationintensityisalsomuchgreaterthanthatoftheground,anditisfullspectrum.Especiallyhigh-energyheavyparticlesintheuniverse,duetoatmosphericdampingandabsorption,itisdifficulttoreachtheground.

Inthespaceenvironment,duetothehighvacuuminsulation,thesurfaceoftheobjectdirectlyexposedtothesuncanreachahightemperatureabove100℃,whiletheshadedsurfacecanmaintainalowtemperaturebelow-100℃.Thereisalargetemperaturedifferencebetweenthetwo,anditisverystable.

Sincetheadventofspacecraft,scientistsfirstthoughtofusingtheorbitalresourcesofspace,thatis,usingtheuniqueadvantagesofhigh-distancepositions.Asweallknow,standtallandseefar.Thespaceorbitoftheearthisfarawayfromtheearth'ssurfaceandhigherthantheatmosphere,whereitcanlookdownontheearthfromdifferentheightsandangles,especiallytheorbitsthataresynchronizedwiththeearthandthesunareofspecialsignificance.

Forthisreason,variousspacecraftaimingtodevelopspaceorbitresourcesareracingtolaunch.Forexample,thecommunicationsatelliteistomovetheoriginalradiostationonthegroundtothesatellite,therebygreatlyimprovingthesignalcoverageareaandtransmissiondistance,communicationqualityandanti-destructiveness,reducingcosts,andmakingaqualitativeleapincommunicationtechnology.Remotesensingsatellitesareequivalenttospaceobservationplatforms.Theyhavetheadvantagesofawiderangeofobservations,alargenumberofobservations,fasttimeliness,andgoodcontinuity.Theyplayahugeroleinweatherforecasting,landresourcedevelopment,andmarineresourcedevelopment.Thenavigationsatelliteissetatareferencepointinspace.Itcanovercomeaseriesofshortcomingssuchasthelimitedsignalpropagationdistanceofthegroundradionavigationstation.Itisthemostadvancednavigationtechnology.

Onthe"commandingheights"inspace,youcannotonlyobservetheground,butalsolookatthesky.Astronomicalobservationstherearenotaffectedbytheatmosphere,makingfull-bandastronomicalobservationsabreeze.Astronomicalsatellitesandspacestationsareidealastronomicalobservatories.

Themicrogravityinspace(theaccelerationofgravityislessthan10-4g)isapreciousresource,whichcanbeusedtocarryoutscientificexperiments,newmaterialprocessinganddrugpreparationthataredifficulttoimplementontheground.Undermicrogravityconditions,duetothelackofbuoyancy,thedropletsareeasiertosuspendthantheground.Whensmeltingmetals,youcanusesuspensionsmeltingwithoutusingcontainers,sothatthesmeltingtemperatureisnotlimitedbythetemperatureresistanceofthecontainer,andthemeltingpointisextremelyhigh.Metalsmeltingavoidscontaminationofthecontainerwallandnon-uniformnucleationandcrystallization,changesthecrystalphasestructure,andimprovesthestrengthofthemetal.Undermicrogravityconditions,thethermalconvectionofgasandmeltdisappears,thestratificationanddepositionofsubstanceswithdifferentspecificgravitydisappear,whichisusefulfortheproductionofextremelypurechemicalsubstances,biologicalagents,specialeffectsmedicines,anduniformmetalmatrixcompositematerials,glassandceramics,etc.It'salsoveryuseful.

Spacetourismresources.TheUnitedStates,Japanandothercountriesarealreadyplanningtobuildspacehotels.Ifthedevelopmentgoeswell,itwillnotbefarawaytoenterthespacetoenjoythebeautifulsceneryoftheuniverseandlookbackatthecradleofmankind-theearth.Afterthediscoveryoffrozenwateronthemoon,somepeoplehaveimaginedbuildingaholidayhotelonthemoon,andthentheycanalsoenjoythemoonscenery.ArichmanintheUnitedStateshasscheduledatriptotheMirspacestationin2001.

Developsolarenergyresources.Thesolarpoweronthespacecraftisonlyusedbythespacecraftitself.Somecountriesarealreadyplanningtobuildsolar-poweredsatellites,orspacepowerstations.Itcanconvertthesun'slightenergyintohigh-powerelectricenergywithhighefficiency,andthensendtheelectricenergytothegroundbymicrowaveorlaserforuserstouse.Anotherformofsolarenergyutilizationistheconstructionofartificialsmallmoonsandartificialsmallsunstoilluminatecitiesandfieldoperations,increasethefrost-freeperiodinalpineregions,andensurehighagriculturalyields.

Developlunarresources.Thereareabundantelementssuchasoxygen,silicon,titanium,manganeseandaluminumonthemoon,aswellashelium-3,whichisscarceand"clean"fornuclearpowergenerationonearth.Thereisnoatmosphericinfluenceonthemoon,aswellasmanyfavorableenvironmentalconditionssuchaslongdarknightsandlowtemperatures,makingitanidealbaseforscientificresearchandastronomicalobservation.

Developresourcesonasteroidsandcomets.Metalasteroidsarerichiniron,nickel,copperandothermetals,andsomealsohavepreciousmetalssuchasgoldandplatinumandpreciousrareearthelements.Thereisabundantwatericeonthecomet.Theseresourcesandtheresourcesonthemooncanbeusedtobuildspaceportsandspacecities,andcanalsobeusedonearth.

Intherangeofnear-Earthspace,itmainlyincludesspaceorbitresources,solarenergyresources,solarwind(lightpressure)resources,microgravityresources,vacuumenvironmentresources,lunarbaseresources,spacehighwayorbitfeaturepointresources,Spaceenvironmentresourcesandsoon.Theseresourcesareanobjectivelyexistingformofmatterandmovement.Somearevisible,tangible,somearefeltandundetectable.Theyarestillintheprocessofexplorationanddiscovery.Weneedtocontinuetounderstand,explore,discover,develop,anddevelop.Application,utilization,conversion,etc.

Specificuse

Spaceorbitresourcesrefertothespecialpurposeofspaceorbit.Inspaceorbit,spacecraftsuchassatellitesandspacestationsinoperationobservetheearthonwhichmankinddepends,andcanquicklytrackchangesintheearth,monitorandforecastnaturaldisasterssuchasweather,volcaniceruptions,forestfires,floods,earthquakes,etc.;canpenetratecloudsObservethechangesoftheatmosphereandtheearth'ssurfacebybreakingthefog,andmakehigh-precisionmeasurementsoftheearthandocean,becominganimportantsourceofinformationforweatherforecasting,earthresourceexploration,andenvironmentalmonitoring;communicationsatellitescanprovidecommunicationservicesforpeopleeverywhere;navigationsatellitesprovideworldwideAll-weather,all-weathersatellitenavigationandpositioninginformationisprovided,makingrailway,highway,ocean,andaviationtransportationmoreefficientandsafe.

Spacemicrogravityandhighvacuumenvironmenthaveopenedupnewwaysforthedevelopmentofnewspaceproducts.Thedevelopmentandutilizationofspacemicrogravitywillpromotethedevelopmentoffluidmechanics,materialscienceandbiotechnology,andshowgreatdevelopmentpotentialinthefieldsofmaterials,pharmaceuticals,agriculture,andelectronics.

Theclean,low-cost,pollution-freesolarenergyresourcescanbefullyutilizedinspace.Solarpanelsinspacehavenoatmosphericbarrier,nointerference,theintensityofreceivingsunlightis8-10timesthatoftheearth,anditiscleaner.Moreover,itcancontinuouslyreceivesunlightfor24hours,whichsolvestheproblemofintermittentandpoorstabilityofgroundsolarpowergeneration.

TheUnitedStates,Russiaandothercountrieshavelaunchedlunarprobesandinterplanetaryspacecraft,andtheyhavedetectedabundantmaterialresourcesonthemoon,asteroids,andMars.Thesurfaceofthemoonnotonlystoresrich,cleanandsafenuclearfusionfuelhelium3,butalsorichinelementalmineralresourcessuchassilicon,aluminum,calcium,sodium,andiron;abundantiron,nickel,copper,etc.havebeenfoundonsomeasteroidsMetalsandpreciousrareearthelements,especiallyonthemoonandMars,havedetectedalargeamountofwaterice,withreservesofhundredsofmillionsoftons.ThesehavecreatedconditionsforthefurtherdevelopmentofthemoonandMars.