Earth Rings for Planetary Environment Control

Details Earth Rings for Planetary Environment Control Earth Rings for Planetary Environment Control

Jan 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002iaf..confe.890p&link_type=abstract

IAF abstracts, 34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, The Second World Space Congress, held 10-19 October, 2002 in Houston, TX, USA.,

Computer Science

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Scientific paper

For most of its past, large parts of the Earth have experienced subtropical climates, with high sea levels and no polar icecaps. This warmer environment was punctuated 570, 280, and 3 million years ago with periods of glaciation that covered temperate regions with thick ice for millions of years. At the end of the current ice age, a warmer climate could flood coastal cities, even without human-caused global warming. In addition, asteroids bombard the Earth periodically, with impacts large enough to destroy most life on Earth, and the sun is warming inexorably. This paper proposes a concept to solve these problems simultaneously, by creating an artificial planetary ring about the Earth to shade it. Past proposals for space climate control have depended on gigantic engineering structures launched from Earth and placed in Earth orbit or at the Earth-Sun L1 libration point, requiring fabrication, large launch masses and expense, constant control, and repair. Our solution is to begin by using lunar material, and then mine and remove Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids and discard the tailings into Earth orbit, to form a broad, flat ring like those of Saturn. This solution is evaluated and compared with other alternatives. Such ring systems can persist for thousands of years, and can be maintained by shepherding satellites or by continual replenishment from new asteroids to replace the edges of the ring lost by diffusion. An Earth ring at R = 1.3-1.83 RE would shade only the equatorial regions, moderating climate extremes, and could reverse a century of global warming. It could also absorb particles from the radiation belts, making trips to high Earth orbit and GEO safer for humans and for electronics. It would also light the night many times as bright as the full moon. A preliminary design of the ring is developed, including its location, mass, composition, stability, and timescale required. A one-dimensional climate model is used to evaluate the Earth ring performance. Earth, lunar, and asteroidal material sources are evaluated; asteroid retrieval is addressed, along with techniques for processing and forming the ring to the proper thickness and density. The ring could consist of particles, or fabricated satellite structures. Environmental concerns and effects on existing satellites in various Earth orbits are addressed. There are uncertainties in our understanding of climate and its control. But it appears that the Earth ring could control the Earth's temperature and its latitudinal variation, make dangerous asteroids useful, reduce the intensity of the Van Allen radiation belts, provide nighttime illumination without power, and create an artificial ionosphere for radio communication.

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