Interplanetary Infrastructure

[@sheldoniusRex]

We need a "Life on an Aldrin cycler" episode.

[@fanOmry]

Yes!!!

[@placeholdername0000]

Crew growing food for most of the cycle, turning it into a hotel for a few months.

[@Prof.Megamind.thinks.about.it.]

...and a focus on using aerogravity-assist to scrub off the excess speed acquired from interplanetary travel . 🤓

[@DefaultUser61]

I agree. Life during the “graveyard shift” of the cycle. Also, I’ve always had a hard time envisioning how the transfers of people/cargo would work at the stops. It would be inefficient to slow down then speed up, but it’s going pretty fast

[@smileyp4535]

Life on a merchant ship but in space! That would be a fun time

[@NextDevilv]

Does anyone else look forward to the next Isaac Arthur video more than any other creator? Just fantastic content I just love listening to

[@jeffreysims6474]

Am always looking out for new things by him lol

[@aspiratedaloha2946]

Yes

[@necrosunderground]

It's a tie for me between Isaac and John Michael Godier/Event Horizon

[@DeadlyDan]

100%, the most valuable content on all of KZbin. No other tuber covers the extent and detail that Isaac does. I'm always left disappointed on other Sci-Fi and futurism channels.

[@hellorin]

start at 11:30 and listen carefully, where he said orth, dinnor and lator, he also said oltra

[@colinsmith1495]

I think the idea of the 'end of the internet' is a bit of a mis-speak. I think it's more likely that we'll end up with separate internets that periodically synch. For example, imagine that KZbin was hosted on Jupiter and Earth. Earth-based creators could upload stuff to an Earth-base audience easily, and Jupiter-based creators to Jupiter-based audiences. But Earth would only get an update from ALL the Jupiter creators maybe once a month or so, in one massive upload, as convenient. And Jupiter would get the same upload from Earth at the same time. Remember, expanding out doesn't necessarily imply that the local population drops, and we're likely to cluster around other specific locations for some time.

[@UltimatePerfection]

I want you to tackle what I consider a huge stupidity in sci-fi settings and that's entire planets dedicated to specific things. Farming worlds, factory worlds, etc. Like, why? Every planet is big enough to have everything on it needed to be self-sufficient (just like Earth, although we aren't really good at it). And that would make these colonies impervious to any sort of planetary blockades and other common SF war tropes. Yeah, it makes for a good story, but I sincerely hope that if we get an interplanetary presence we don't go that route, because it's a stupid thing to do IRL.

[@РайанКупер-э4о]

It's stupid thing to do if you want them to be independent nations. But if you are creating united and unbreakable state you want them to be interdepended and unable to survive sustainably on their own.

[@sorceryfarm6535]

I wrote a series of stories set in the solar system circa 2885. The original Aldrin cycler has grown into what's known as the Aldrin Archipelago, a constellation of around 30 hollowed-out asteroids connected by tethers. There are about 70 million permanent inhabitants, plus about 25 million 'birds,' the local term for passengers, yearly. Local festivals are based around significant orbital events (Mars Passing and Earth Passing, for example) and a mythology has sprung up. It's a pretty fun setting.

[@tanxyrogue847]

anywhere i can read it

[@sorceryfarm6535]

@@tanxyrogue847 I haven't published them anywhere. I wrote them for a bro who was in the hospital for a long time.

[@BlokHeadAnim]

​@@sorceryfarm6535You should! (If you're comfortable and there's enough material to justify it.) I'm sure plenty of folks would love to read.

[@Vjx-d7c]

Currently in class waiting on my professor to show up and this banger drops I hope I can watch it all before he arrives 😅😅

[@UrdnotChuckles]

Gotta love orbital and / or tethered rings! So many uses for the things. I can only imagine how useful they'd be for improving internet connectivity all around the world, let alone all the other fun uses.

[@qpwodkgh2010]

Isaac Arthur's channel is one of the first, if not the first channel that I subscribed to. I'm pleased for all the educations and entertainment provided. Thank you.

[@MrTaxiRob]

I think the best combination of these ideas is an orbital ring around Venus. We have nothing to lose but money if it collapses in on the planet, and it would be the perfect place to begin terraforming the atmosphere without having to build a separate solar shield at L1. You could even use it as a staging ground to build the artificial moon that Venus needs to correct its spin. Another one around Mars and a third around Titan would help make less expensive mass transfers possible between them, making all three of them inhabited colonies eventually. A fourth ring around Earth could then be used to move people to those colonies, because by then human fear of orbital ring collapse would have been fully abated.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

That's a neat approach honestly.

[@MrTaxiRob]

@@isaacarthurSFIA superhighway indeed... imagine a steady stream of spacecraft between the four bodies as regular as cars and trucks on I-90 (I just moved back to Ohio from San Diego, lol)

[@thelordofcringe]

@@MrTaxiRob "regular" and "I-90" do not belong together lol

[@MrTaxiRob]

@@thelordofcringe I wouldn't even describe it as "infrastructure" half the time

[@Rickyrab]

How do we know that folks aren't just going to use Venus (or the sun) as the solar system's town dump?

[@bruh-mj4wu]

That trick that uses earth's inclination to support a mass driver blew my mind.

[@prakadox]

Great episode. Always nice to have a megastructure centric episode. The vision of a future serviced by skyhooks, tethered rings, orbital rings is beautiful!

[@cannonfodder4376]

Nothing like a new Arthursday video to get my spirits for the future up. They were flagging these past weeks. Another good video, Isaac.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks, I hope they stay up

[@zorastin]

@@isaacarthurSFIA just a heads up isaac and team there is no SoundCloud links in the more section of this one.

[@theostickle2604]

@Issac Arthur Thank you for another great video. You always give me something to think about where it either confirms the reasoning for a project, helps me realize what I missed, or even scrap a project and start over. Infrastructure is always the logistical nightmare that kills or gives birth to expansion of commerce and resource development. Edit: I have a few years on you: ending of vacuum tube radios and the birth of color TV and commercial transistors - "solid state" technologies.

[@jonathanhensley6141]

Love how each video out does the last one regardless if it near term or long term technology development.

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

the best part of waking up is Isaac Arthur in my ears and coffee in my cup.

[@septegram]

19:46 I can see "turn&burn" maneuvers being economical for military, but not much of anyone else.

[@zwerko]

If only we were born a few hundred years from now to actually start seeing structures like this...

[@punkrockstuff]

While we may not be blessed with the chance to see grand structures in space, we’ll at least be the first generation to see space become a true frontier for mankind. I doubt there’ll be colonies or expansive space habitats for a long while yet, but outposts, the beginnings of industry, probably a kickass moonbase or two maybe. It’s not so bad!

[@catholiccrusader5328]

@@punkrockstuff I'm 78 and I too wish I was born in 2146 instead of 1946. The nearly unlimited potential of a single human being is enormous. If only we would invent better ways of living instead of bombs to kill off each other.

[@AlanMars]

Not likely to happen in capitalist parts of the world.

[@faizanrana2998]

HUNDREDS? heeeheheeeheheeee you mean THOUSANDS.

[@ThirtytwoJ]

After the taxes required by our corrupt idiot govs to fund them...

[@SkyFly19853]

The videos on space... Getting better and better... ✅✅✅✅✅

[@steveishere7909]

As far as infrastructure goes, Perhaps a dive into the possibility of jump/hyper gate technology and the difficulty/challenges of such tech.

[@morsecodereviews1553]

Isaac is like Alladin, he brings us to a whole new world.

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Dangit Isaac, I dread the day you become an official government whatever because your content quality might dip, youre just way too good. You set the bar too high!

[@smoore6461]

Wow,great episode, and the entire upcoming schedule looks amazing as well! Especially can't wait for fallen Enpires and forge worlds!!! Thank you so much for your hard work both online and off to advance understanding and the cause of humans' future in space!

[@joeygarza9550]

You, Isaac Arthur, are a veritable beast when it comes to all things science fiction soon to be science fact! I truly love your channel. [edit: well maybe not "soon to be" but definitely "eventually to become"]

[@jssomewhere6740]

Watching these videos makes me wonder how so many people can be so pessimistic, about advancement into space. Not that I believe every idea discussed in these videos is a certainty buy just the fact that people consider this type of engineering makes me think that the future of mankind will extend into our solar system and eventually well beyond.

[@lewebusl]

I like that Isaac add real engineering solutions and science to tech explanations make the content into more like Futuristic Engineering ...

[@linz8291]

Let more furturistc engineering into current engineering solutions and scientific research

[@robmc3338]

And in all that mega engineering, there is a Cat, staring at its food bowl, then it's human with the expression "is this really the best you can do!".... 🐈

[@achillesa5894]

I came up with thethered rings on my own a while back, kinda proud of it, now i gotta go watch the relevant videos lol

[@ami_gourav]

We love your content by heart ❤️

[@TheBwaap]

this man is a legend

[@sixtenwidlund4258]

IT’S ARTHURS DAY!!!

[@cystarkman]

oh, i remember posting a request some years ago in a poll for a story on roads in space. Here it is! Really interesting, way more than I had thought of at the time.

[@DEMONOFLOVEANDDEATH]

Another great video

[@greggweber9967]

Like selling WW-II tanks, roadbuilding equipment to allied countries, or copper for telegraph or telephone wires after you've switched to digital and glass, can things be cheaply moved to the provinces and reused? Expanding concentric rings of technology?

[@virutech32]

Once you have EM pellet stream highways &/or mass drivers/ORs then yeah transit energy becomes a lot less of an issue. Tho it still wont be free & will probably make more sense to just set ur local autonomous construction swarm to ISRU the best infrastructure they can. Also old infrastructure probably wont last since it will probably be disassembled to reuse component elements/parts

[@nathanwhitechurch3769]

Thank you guys for all your work over the years, always an amazing perspective on these questions.

[@francoislacombe9071]

Isaac: "We can obviously function without the Internet. I still remember a time before it, and I am only 42" Me: "The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything."

[@clydecox2108]

Great episode, looking forward to seeing the future.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks!

[@lucystear6591]

Ive always had one bog issue with dyson swarms... humans dont like to stay in one place, and a civilization capable of such a vast project would probably direct their efforts towards generation ships if not yet ftl capable. their is no real differenct in style.standard of living, but clear implications to locking yourself to your sun.

[@metaflight9495]

I get the feeling that if trains and ships were the standard for domestic and international travel in our society, we'd have had an easier time building out into and adjusting for expansion into the rest of the solar system. Like automobile brain/society might have stunted our growth into space.

[@asfrflagcommunity966]

The music is exactly what I expect looking at this night sky

[@elliotsmith9812]

Have you discussed the chain concept in "Seven Eves"?

[@joshmnky]

Surprised I haven't seen my idea yet. A cycler, but you don't land on it. Ships fly through it for magnetic acceleration/deceleration. It could make up delta V gradually with solar sails, traditional slingshot maneuvers, and maybe ion drives in a pinch.

[@mjk9388]

Amazing episode. Congratulations Isaac and team!

[@MasoudNyoni-g8o]

Thanks for sharing this massage about issues from space development daily goes

[@RunningOnAutopilot]

Some madman is going to scale a space elevator if at all possible. He will need drones to resupply him.

[@BudenniyS]

I wonder is there any roleplay or collaboration writing communities that are sci Fi oriented left? Because most RP communities I find are either fandom based or eRP that is fandom based. At best with few generic fantasy sprinkled in. Sci Fi that is not guardians of galaxy or Star wars fan-fiction seems to be more and more rare.

[@sarcasmo57]

I hope it all works out.

[@SecularMentat]

Ryk Brown's series uses FTL (and later, jump) comm drones that are regularly zipping back and forth between the habitat planets.

[@JohnPritzlaff]

I am absolutely getting a Nebula subscription again. Shoulda never lapsed.

[@qoncept]

Whoa... Been listening for a few years now and suddenly it blows my mind to realize we're the same age. Love listening, you seem both wise and intelligent beyond your years. Keep rockin on!

[@seriousmaran9414]

"And I am only 42"... Meaning of life, the universe and everything, and he says "ONLY?"

[@MrTaxiRob]

Isaac Arthur is the answer to everything!

[@xassix]

Ive just watched that video of Phil Swans presentation on the Space infrastructure channel. Unfortunately he did not spend much time explaining the mass driver. Do you know where I can find more details about this?

[@pewterhacker]

There's an IEEE paper entitled "The Techno-Economic Viability of Actively Supported Structures for Terrestrial Transit and Space Launch"

[@wraith9869]

once they work out how to use quantum entanglement for communication you could send one side of the entanglement with the ship you send out that would give you effective faster than light communication

[@linz8291]

Quantum entanglement and quantum tunneling are developed into real-time small spaceship to mothership communication syatem and telepathic communication over the past decades, more modern space development projects are upcoming.

[@nomnom914]

any thoughts on the landing of osiris rex at Bennu Asteroid? like how it shocked NASA on how soft the ground was?

[@aspiratedaloha2946]

Ah the best drink and snack all week!! Thanks Isaac

[@jkerman5113]

Great episode. Re 10:30, why is it that the tube needs to be filled with anything at all? Wouldn't that create extra drag?

[@spaceinfrastructure3238]

A tube filled with helium or hydrogen tube instead of a vacuum is lighter and easier to build, which reduces its construction costs and improves the concept's technical and economic feasibility.

[@PeterSwinkels]

@1:40 - As *many people* that age and above remember a time without. 😊

[@nottedokenstaf1437]

With is better. Nazi propaganda and Flat-Eartherism and all. With is still better.

[@Runetrantor]

Weird concept I considered the other day but never seen anyone mention (Probably because it borders on dumb and 'why?'), do you think a future humanity would consider altering Earth's orbital period JUST a smidge to get rid of the leap years? Or if they are feeling extra OCD, take a day off the calendar too so that 13 month calendar proposal with 28 day months fits neatly and beautifully? XD

[@virutech32]

Why not? Once you have an orbital ring in place those paylods can act as remass. A very enerfy efficient propulsion system too with dozens of km/s exhaust velocity so high ISP as well. Doubt anyone would care enough to schedule our launches around, but hey if ur already launch kilotons or even megatons into orbit it's not that big a deal. Tho id argue we should round up since we want most of our paylods going in the prograde direction.

[@toddkes5890]

The other fun idea would be altering Earth's rotation period to make it exactly 24 hours. Had a similar math on that for a Star Wars thread. Essentially how much energy would be needed to bring Ryloth (the Twi'lek homeworld) from tide-locked to its star up to a 24 hour rotation. My rough math was that it would be about one thousandth the energy needed for a Death Star planet-killer blast. You would just have to apply the energy slower, and adjust the ecology to take advantage of the parts of the planet that can now be colonized (i.e. the central part that has been staring at the sun the entire time, plus the frozen rear)

[@bobbun9630]

Without doing any calculations, I would guess that it would be easier to slow down the Earth's rotation just a bit to get the synchronization you want. However, people are willing to pay for convenience. I can't imagine anyone would ever pay the huge cost of doing that to gain the tiny convenience of regularizing the calendar, especially since the cost would be ongoing for as long as one wanted to keep the days and years synchronized.

[@michaelfranz8252]

These would be so susceptible to military and terrorists' attacks. How do we prevent this kind of sabotage?

[@yourbuddyunit]

Issac, you seem like such a cool dude. Thanks for being you, I really thrive off this channel.

[@JugrajGill-o3h]

Can you make video about near stars and planets around them please? (other than Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri)

[@TheGenericavatar]

The biggest problem with the active suspension rings is the potential for law suits if it fails majorly and stuff falls to the ground. Torte lawyers aren't going anywhere.

[@virutech32]

Not really a prohibitive or anything. Especially for an equatorial OR since it's mostly over ocean. Anywho the majority of the ring would be flung outwards & the stator can be designed to break up into manageable pieces with parachutes or steerable rogallo/parawings. The same argument could be made for any overhead infrastructure & we still build power lines and overpasses. It's simply worth the small amount of risk.

[@darinbauer8122]

I want you to describe critical interstellar infrastructure...ok well, you seem to be doing that! ❤

[@chriswise7978]

A fraction of modern cost? Lmfao!) OK, I'm sure those who control these rings aren't going to gauge the shit out of us

[@benbierly]

@Isaac_Arthur Could we build space elevators now if we support the structure with wings every so many meters along the structure? It seems we might be able to do this, but I honestly don't know how the aerodynamics would work out.

[@firstcynic92]

For the various tethered constructs, how much effect would there be if there was a serious earthquake (6.0 or better) near a tether? Would engineers also have to take regular crustal movement into account? The average plate moves at about 1.5 cm per year.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Vibration up tethers, from quakes, weather, things yanking on them to move, and so on is a real concern but there's a wide array of options that can be used to mitigate them, many similar to bridges, but I suspect we'll need some hands-on experience to figure out what is best. Also, you can always disconnect and move a tether, and while we don't tend to show it on them, there is typically an assumption you have winches tightening or loosening them

[@hyrumhanson3390]

If the base of the tethers are attached to a structure floating on the ocean the tectonic problems could be minimize. Just a thought

[@markstyles1246]

I'd imagine you'd do more than just the multiple tethers described. Maybe "fray" the Earth-side ends, guywires like a tall antenna? Or at the cost of some mass, a tuned-mass damper, sort of a "ferrite choke" for the cable?

[@zaksilva-sampaio7876]

What would Isaac Arthur talk about if his show was during the post-scarcity setting?

[@andrewbarnard3229]

I think im missing something.. i get light doesnt have recoil right? so if using a laser to push something does that something not push back? are we not ever so slightly nudging the anchoring body used to mount the laser out of alignment at the same time we push something else?

[@virutech32]

Light does in fact have recoil. It's just typically a very small amount of recoil. An emission will have half the recoil of a reflection. Tho you definitely still wanna make sure ur laser cannons/mirror swarms are gravitational/mechanically anchored to something massive so that it takes a long time for it's orbit to be affected. You can also balance ur beaming so that there are no net forces on the emitters.

[@garlandgarrett6332]

Could we have a mars cycler that is every two weeks’ish , and if so, how many would be “cycling” at a time

[@peteroland5389]

I appreciate the Heinlein reference

[@orbitia662]

I like the 1s & 0s light giant orbital panels for interplanetary comunication lol

[@JasoTheRed48F2]

Fuck this was a good one.

[@jackyork6924]

The ultimate question to life, the universe and everything: how old is Isaac Arthur?

[@Jasonmakesvideo]

Hey isaac, I wanted to ask if you've seen/played the game armored core 6, and, more specifically the xylem floating city concept and the ubiquitous unubtanium trope i.e. coral. The curveball is that in armored core, this coral(unobtainium) is self propagating and conscious to the point of becoming a voice in your head throughout. Anyways, I just was curious how feasible a concept you thought that xylem city was based on if youve seen this cut scene. Apologies for the rambling exposition but the story really gripped me and it instantly made me wonder where in the mega structure compendium such a thing would fit

[@Jasonmakesvideo]

I wanna go to one of these conferences you speak of! Are they open to the public?

[@spaceinfrastructure3238]

Yes, ISDC2024 will be held in LA in around May.

[@lukewinter5153]

21:13 I think you may have forgotten Phil’s links I was interested in learning more about it but could find the link or the channel could you attach those?

[@ridingvenus]

Most videos/presentations like this on this subject tend to miss that we are green,n the world…yes I think deserts will still exist….mountains covered with rock also…but those areas will shrink…& the green will expand…lots.

[@faizanrana2998]

Oooowowowowoowo best youtube channel ever

[@RaysHobbies]

Happy Arthursday

[@Seventeen_Syllables]

42? That is the answer, of course, but figuring out the question is somewhat more challenging. If you think predating the Internet makes you old, consider that on the day that I was born there were no manmade objects in orbit, Sputnik was launched the following year. Serious discussions of interplanetary infrastructure were clearly uncommon and even more primitive than what we have today.

[@patrickfiorito]

You make good future tech videos.

[@mikeruscher8359]

Love watching sfia's videos but keep missing the live streams 🎉🎉🎉🎉 but still can ever wait for the next video to come out 9 years 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Bunnyone000]

Thank you so much for this video❤ I will try to spread the idea and keep the conversation going. By the way I have subscribed to nebula, all thx to this channel.

[@emzywillrich7243]

Isaac is the new president of the National Space Society. He spoke at the International Space Development Conference in May 2023 in Frisco, Texas.

[@goiterlanternbase]

1:38 I'm older and i remember missing much more. Wasn't a life back than. We developed smartphones for a reason and for a non debatable one😏

[@ioanbota9397]

Realy I like this video its so so interestyng

[@AuntyProton]

Hey Isaac, Io is such a hellhole there must be something valuable there. Could you do an episode on how it could be colonized and what we might find there? Also I'll second the Aldrin cycler idea! Thanks!

[@ecogreen123]

interplanetary infrastructure really makes me wonder about possible interstellar infrastructure options if plausible.

[@faizanrana2998]

Bro no way u crazy

[@ecogreen123]

@@faizanrana2998 it might be a stretch of technological capability but it's not too far of a stretch of the imagination.

[@mr.ackermann807]

What do you mean by interstellar infrastructure?

[@ecogreen123]

@@mr.ackermann807 ideas for what it could be, look or work like boggle the mind but the hypothetical is there. in other words: idk but it sounds cool.

[@mr.ackermann807]

@ecogreen123_4 I was asking cause some ideas for it are possible. I was just trying to understand what you meant by that. If you're referring to things like planet ships or ftl, then my knowledge is limited, but if you're referring to things like generation ships or solar sails ships, then it is possible and practical.

[@kimcosmos]

Lets not forget the earth to Venus to Mars route. As fast as skipping Venus. The IPFS is not a joke. But it needs delegation to mandated AI that are constantly updated

[@smileyp4535]

It is kinda fun to think about how this is the first and only time in history where all of humanity can communicate instantaneously (potentially) but I imagine most of humanity will remain within the core of the solar system no further than mars with most asteroid mining being automated and frankly I don't see humans outside of maybe scientists even going to Mars much less beyond for a VERY long time. My prediction is actually most of humanity once it is post earth and living in space habitats will move in towards the sun as part of the Dyson swarm which will make inter-community communication basically real time with no more than like a few minutes to slightly under an hour at most, so online gaming and real time conversations will be somewhat local (but a local volume quite a but larger than the earth itself so I don't see it being *that* big of a problem for most people 😂) But imagine the differences in cultures that would develop simply because they are even just a few light minutes away 🤔 I imagine it would be largely homogenous with a spectrum of diffences that compound the further away two particular communities are with varying degrees of similarities and differences as you went from one community to the other hopping from one to the other alone the way it would be hard to notice until you looked back, plus people will always be interested in the "exotic" so every will be able to find something the recognize everywhere else for at least several thousand years until the truely long distances between colonies develop and "humanity" no longer is a recognizable cohesive unit

[@Vjx-d7c]

I have a question that might be stupid but if it were to be possible to create a negative mass wouldn't it fly away from the observeable universe as fast as it could because it would be repellent to gravity so it would accelerate away from earth at 9.8m/s² then escape the solar system then the galaxy all while picking up speed

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

That's complicated, but we would expect them to be extragalactic

[@mr.ackermann807]

Possibly. However, you forgot about voids in the universe that are devoid of matter almost entirely. Also I don't think it would leave the universe for some time if that's your thinking for if it hits an asteroid of certain gravity or so little, than it would most likely absorb its kinetic energy and cause the rock to Possible blowup from the energy and the repulsive force, after ward it would accelerate at that new gravity and bounce around when ever it's hits something else. If I'm wrong, then please correct me, but that's my assumption.

[@mr.ackermann807]

Also the constant acceleration, I don't think that's how that works. If it were to leave earth at that acceleration then when it got about 2 radia or earth diameter away than that acceleration wouldn't be constant like 1g anymore for gravity drops off the further you get away I think the equation was 1 over d squared were 1 is gravity, d is distance in radia. Hope you don't mind all the details.

[@MrTaxiRob]

@@mr.ackermann807 do you think it would end up in the center of a void from equal negative gravity pressure in all directions?

[@mr.ackermann807]

@MrTaxiRob not necessarily, unless the matter around the void is equal, then it would find a pressure slightly off and be pushed toward that area. Trapped, maybe. Does that answer your question?

[@ctrlaltdebug]

I suddenly want to hear more about interplanetary space trains.

[@SMunro]

Do you need to aerobrake? Can you pass close to martian moons and use its gravitational drag to slow the ship? Maybe orbit the planet mars a dozen times, passing close to a martian moon to burn off velocity over and over.

[@virutech32]

Gravity doesn't produce drag. You can do gravity assists, but neither of the martian moons are anywhere near big enough for that to be useful & gravity assists in general aren't useful for planetary capture. You don't get much delta-v on anything, but the most massive planets. The smaller(but still very large like venus) ones take many passes. Lunar-mass stuf would take many dozens of passes & the tiny asterids around mars would take hundreds of passes(each of which probably takes years). So yeah not great for capturing.

[@fireofenergy]

I want a Terran ring!

[@ThirtytwoJ]

Im amazed elon hasnt started a bare basic like couple hundred pound capacity orbital tether yet, or no gov has done one at a pole.

[@igorastral4816]

Please improve your pronunciation, Earth, Universe, etc ... little kids are watching and could catch the wrong pronunciation and take it as correct. The content is awesome.

[@TraditionalAnglican]

L-4 & L-5 points would allow continuous communication between earth - Mars - Venus and all of the other planets in the solar system, as well as the Asteroid Belt & Near Earth Asteroids…

[@aluminiumsloep]

Orbital rings around the Sun?? Now that's absolutely a viable idea....

[@frognik79]

Took a while but you answered my question :P

[@Soupy_loopy]

Oh crap, Isaac has a Thesaurus. I told them to keep them Away from him.

[@logex621]

Nice a much needed bridge from now to the scifu (science futurism)