Exodus through space is a recurring theme in science fiction. It doesn’t matter if it’s literature (‘Aurora’), cinema (‘Wall-e‘) or video games (‘Mass Effect Andromeda‘), the idea of a huge ship that transport a lot of people that become inhabitants of a planet on the other side of the universe is as fascinating as utopian. But at some point you will have to get to work, and there are those who have had an idea: a 58 -kilometer ship for Bring Humanity to Alpha Centauri.
His name is Chrysalis, and the duration of the trip will be 400 years.
Chrysalis project. Within the ‘Project Hyperion Design Competition‘, a group of Italian social engineers, scientists and architects They have designed Chrysalisa ship of about 58 kilometers in length with a cylindrical and multicapa architecture. To simplify, it would be like a Russian, but elongated doll, with a concentric core and layers that would have differentiated areas for:
- Production.
- Life.
- Industry.
- Storage.
Would have artificial gravity achieved by constant rotation of the entire cylinder and the idea is that it can transport 2,400 passengers to Next bthe most promising exoplanet of the system. There they would disembark and could start colonizing the territory after a 400 -year trip. Estimated construction time? 20 to 25 years.
Layers. It would be like a huge city and remember The Line, the Saudi Arabia macroproject. Throughout those 58 kilometers and depending on the layer, areas destined for food production, forest biocservation, community areas with parks and facilities such as schools, hospitals or libraries, as well as habitable modules, industrial areas and an external ring dedicated to storage.
The heaviest jobs would be operated by robotsand it will not be the only thing, since the plan includes a combined governance between humans and artificial intelligence.
No cryogenization. Something that we usually see in these science fiction works is that the crew criotic so as not to die during the trip, but in the case of Chrysalis, there would be no option. Throughout those 400 years, several generations will pass, being a task for all those that fail to reach the goal.
To avoid tensions due to the shortage of resources, births would be controlled to the millimeter, maintaining the population within the sustainable limit that the installation can provide. Recycling is contemplated as a vital option and, to give energy to the entire complex, nuclear fusion reactors will be used.
Crew preparation. In addition to the fact that everyone who embark on Chrysalis will not see their new home on the mainland, it must be taken into account that virtually no one of those who embark on the mission at first will set foot on the ship. The reason is that it is estimated that one of the most crucial part of the trip, also the most radical, will be the preparation for it.
In addition to having psychological support and having a careful strategy for 2,400 people to live in such an environment, before leaving the training will be given for 70 or 80 years In Antarctica. That first (and almost second) generation will face the conditions of isolation and extreme confinement that they will experience during the journey. It will be part of the second and third generation that, finally, are on their way to next Centauri b.
Housing modules. There would be one and two floors
Do not make illusions. Now, the ‘Project Hyperion Design Competition’ is an initiative with an objective: to seek a spacecraft capable of taking some thousands of humans to a habitable exoplanet In an interstellar trip of several centuries, so it is only a conceptual project for several reasons.
The first could be ethical, since training will be devastating and, in essence, the entire trip is an evolutionary experiment with a large -scale controlled population, which means this Mental health levelidentity and perception of time.
The second … because the technology to make it reality escapes our understanding right now. Only the fact of need Fusion reactors (that We are investigatingbut we have not yet developed), leave this experiment as something exclusive to the science fiction field. Although, yes, The document It is tremendously explained.
Images | Canva (presentation of the project)
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