[extropy-chat] SPACE: new planet?
Harvey Newstrom
mail at HarveyNewstrom.com
Fri Feb 20 23:20:49 UTC 2004
Robert J. Bradbury wrote,
> Harvey offered some comments on my comments about Kuiper Belt
> objects, from which I will extract:
>
> > These are older worlds that formed before our planets.
>
> That really isn't clear.
All of the references I read on Kuiper Belt objects state that they are
primitive left-overs from the early solar system formation, before the
planetesimals in the inner solar system formed or combined into planets. I
don't know of any theories that form planets first and Kuiper Belt objects
later.
> > About 10% of them have spawned moonlets which cause tidal
> > forces that very well may heat up their cores to form a
> > liquid internal ocean.
>
> While I will grant that this is possible I haven't seen any
> papers suggesting that tidal forces between planets and moons
> will provide sufficient heat.
There is some evidence that Pluto itself may have a liquid core due to its
moon Chiron.
See <http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATES/Pluto/plutoeuropa.html>. It
states that these objects are the oldest in the solar system. It also
describes hints that Pluto might have an internal liquid ocean like Europa.
> Of course Harvey and I may differ on whether we will
> "colonize" these planetoids or dismantle them but that is a
> minor difference of opinion in the grand scheme of things.
> The primary thing to note is *where* the carbon on the solar
> system is likely to be and the value of that carbon (from an
> economic or developmental standpoint).
I doubt that all KBOs will be disassembled before one is colonized, or that
all will be colonized before one is disassembled. Therefore, it seems
obvious that both options will occur.
--
Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, CISA, CISM, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
Certified IS Security Pro, Certified IS Auditor, Certified InfoSec Manager,
NSA Certified Assessor, IBM Certified Consultant, SANS GIAC Certified GSEC
<HarveyNewstrom.com> <Newstaff.com>
More information about the extropy-chat
mailing list