Astro-engineering facilities

  Astro-engineering facilities

If the megaprojects that will be discussed in our review, ever be implemented, they will be a great achievement of humanity. Indeed, as practice shows, at one point even the most fantastic desires are embodied.

Astro-engineering structures are hypothetical engineering structures of astronomical scale. As a rule, artificial objects with dimensions of tens of thousands of kilometers or more are included in this category.

Astro-engineering structures are of interest as space exploration projects, as examples of large-scale engineering tasks, as objects to search for traces of extraterrestrial civilizations.

  Astro-engineering facilities

Dyson Sphere

  Astro-engineering facilities

Space Elevator (Figure)

  Astro-engineering facilities

Dyson Sphere - version with equipotential surfaces

Content

  • 1 Criteria and methods of detection
  • 2 Options astroengineering facilities
  • 3Astronomical objects as possible astroengineering constructions of extraterrestrial civilizations
  • 4Agro engineering facilities in literature and cinema
  • 5SM. also
  • 6Notes
  • 7 Literature

Criteria and methods of detection

The main criterion is the physical size and / or mass and / or power accompanying the structure, according to the magnitude of which astroengineering structures should be as easily observed from interstellar distance as stars and their systems, or even from intergalactic distance using modern astronomical instruments.

So, the orbital elevator is an example of a large-scale structure, but its dimensions only slightly exceed the planetary scales, and the energy used and the total mass are not observable at interstellar distances.

Typical astroengineering can be work done on a scale of a star system. Megastructures of this type can be the Dyson Sphere, the World Ring, star machines (such as the Shkadov engine) and other artifacts created by type II and III civilizations on the Kardashev scale.

In his work from 2005, Luc Arnold proposed a method for detecting small, but still mega-facilities and artifacts along their characteristic gravitational curvature of the light path [1].

Due to their huge size and artificial origin, the proposed astroengineering facilities could become an object directly observed from the Earth, as well as from the space telescopes. However, at the moment there is no clearly established confirmation of their existence. In 2015, a number of researchers suggested that the Dyson sphere or other astro-engineering structures in the KIC 8462852 Cygnus star system were based on observations of the space telescope's search for Kopler exoplanets.

Options astroengineering facilities

  • Dyson Sphere - Freeman Dyson.
  • Stanford torus
  • Colony of O'Neill
  • O'Neill Cylinder
  • Sphere of Bernal
  • Star car (engine Shkadova)
  • Space bagels
  • Space elevator - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, 1895, Yury Artsutanov 1960.
  • Space bridge - Unitsky A.E.
  • Brain matryoshka
  • Alderson Disc (English) Russian ..
  • The structure of Chriswell is the development of the idea of ​​the Dyson Sphere, but with a fractal surface to maximize the area of ​​the surface receiving the radiation of a star.
  • Hydrogen conservation program

Astronomical objects as possible astroengineering structures of extraterrestrial civilizations

Hypotheses about the artificial origin of some space objects:

  • Pulsars were considered as a kind of superpowerful "beacons" (the hypothesis of Joseph Shklovsky).
  • Quasars were considered as a possible impulse of a photon engine moving from the observer. This was supposed to explain the tremendous speed of the quasar, calculated from its redshift (the photon engine would have a subluminal speed, which removed the paradox about the huge distance of the quasar from the observer).

Astro-engineering structures in literature and cinema

  • "The World Ring", a cycle of Larry Niven.
  • Paradise Fountains, a novel by Arthur Clarke.
  • Death Star from the Star Wars universe.
  • The Hades matrix from the Reynolds Cosmic Apocalypse universe.

1. Space elevator

  Astro-engineering facilities   Astro-engineering facilities



It is proposed to build a space elevator to transport material from the Earth’s surface to orbit. Many options have been proposed, but the most realistic is the one in which cargo will be put into geostationary orbit near the equator. Modern technologies do not allow to build such an elevator, but scientists assume that advanced development of carbon nanotubes will be able to withstand the load.

2. Orbital ring

  Astro-engineering facilities

Orbital ring.


The orbital ring is, in fact, one of the types of space elevator, it is distinguished by the fact that it rotates around the Earth in orbit (the rotating cable is placed on a low earth orbit above the equator). Within this ring, it is possible to move along a cable using superconducting magnets. Also, from the orbital ring, a number of space elevators stretched to the Earth, made of cables with high tensile strength.

3. Halo

  Astro-engineering facilities

The structure of the halo of science fiction. +


For the first time, the colossal "Galo" structure was described in the novel by science fiction writer Larry Niven. It is a giant (from thousands to hundreds of millions of kilometers) metal rings in space. On the inside of the ring there is an atmosphere, water, plants and animals. The huge walls on the sides of the internal structure, as well as the centrifugal force arising from the rotation of the ring, will prevent the atmosphere from escaping into space. The outer surface is dotted with docking stations and windows. This assumes that part of the ring structure is hollow and is used for maintenance and power generation.

4. Globus Cassus

  Astro-engineering facilities

Globus Cassus


Globus Cassus - art project of the Swiss architect and futurologist Christian Waldfogel. According to this concept, it is proposed to use the entire mass of the Earth in order to build instead a giant hollow object with the ecosphere on its inner surface. As a result of this, the habitable habitable surface will increase millions of times. Sunlight will come in through two huge windows, and gravity will be created due to the centrifugal effect. The ecosphere will be limited to the equatorial zone, while tropical zones with low gravity and rarefied atmosphere will be suitable only for plantations. The polar regions will have neither gravity nor atmosphere, and therefore will be used for the storage of raw materials and production processes.

5. Topopolis

  Astro-engineering facilities

Topopolis - a huge habitable pipe. +


A topopolis is essentially a huge habitable tube that, due to rotation, has gravity on the inner surface. Such a tube-like structure can be “twisted” several times by a loop around a star in the form of a torus knot. The concept was invented by Pat Gunkel and mentioned by Larry Niven in "More Than Worlds". Topopolis is sometimes called cosmic spaghetti. The length of such habitable cylinders is hundreds of millions of kilometers, and a diameter of several kilometers.

6. Star Engine

  Astro-engineering facilities

Star Engine


Star engines are a type of hypothetical megastructure that uses star radiation to generate useful energy. Some options use this energy to create thrust, accelerating the star and its entire system in a given direction.

7. Brain matryoshka

  Astro-engineering facilities

Brain matryoshka


This structure will consist of one or several Dyson spheres (a spherical shell the size of a radius of a planetary orbit with a star in the center), built around a star, and nested inside one another. A significant part of these shells will consist of nanoscale computers. The Dyson shell will absorb the energy emitted to its inner surface, use it to power its computer systems, and then re-radiate the energy out. The idea of ​​the matrioshka brain does not violate any of the currently known laws of physics, although its scale simply shakes the imagination.

8. Dyson Sphere

  Astro-engineering facilities

Dyson Sphere.


The Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure, first described by Freeman Dyson. The system of orbital solar satellites-power stations should become such a "sphere", which will completely cover the star and will catch most of the energy emitted by the star. Also, the Dyson Sphere can be a spherical giant shell that will cover the entire star and a good half of its system, and on which people can live.

  Astro-engineering facilities

"Dyson's Sphere" is another classic theoretical project, stunning in its scale. In 1960, the famous British physicist Richard Dyson proposed to surround the Sun with a sphere of solar panels for a virtually infinite source of energy. The idea was later refined to “Roy Dyson,” allowing the panels to move freely.

9. Alderson Disc

  Astro-engineering facilities

Alderson disc.


The Alderson Disc (named after its inventor, Dan Alderson) is an artificial astronomical megastructure like the Niven Ring or the Dyson Sphere. A disk several thousand kilometers thick will have a radius approximately equal to the orbit of Jupiter. The star will be in the center of this disk, and the habitable zone will be in the middle of the structure. The theoretical mass of the disk will be greater than the mass of the sun. It will not be the change of day and night, and the whole world will be immersed in the eternal twilight.

10. World-ring

  Astro-engineering facilities

World ring.


This is an artificial ring with a radius approximately equal to the radius of the Earth's orbit. The star is located in the center of the ring, which rotates to provide artificial gravity. The mass of such a ring is estimated to be equal to the total mass of all the planets in the solar system. If such a structure is built, it will be able to provide people with a huge living surface on its inner side.

  Astro-engineering facilities

The “Shkadov Engine” is a huge solar sail that shifts the light pressure from the Sun, thereby accelerating the movement of the system and shifting it off course in the galaxy. The result, however, will be noticeable only after a billion years, and in general the escape from the Milky Way is a dubious undertaking. On the other hand, the very possibility of building such a structure is breathtaking.

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