05-19-2019, 03:23 AM
(05-19-2019, 02:39 AM)Noclevername Wrote: New topic besides spaceships;
I was wondering about the plausibility of icy Ceres running out of water. Since the Expanse universe somehow avoided Von Neumann machines or extensive automation, presumably Belters did most of the mining, processing, and shipping of water ice and volatiles to Mars.
Given the Belter population and the time frame given, could this scenario realistically have stripped the dwarf planet of all its water? If not, what might need to be done or added to make it fit with Expanse canon?
Note: I have not read the books, maybe this is addressed in that setting.
Unlikely,unless Mars was fully terraformed and all the water was shipped in from Ceres (and maybe not even then). A bit of googling turns up that Ceres is believed to consist of as much as 25% water - approx 2.35e20kg which works out to be about 1/6 of the mass of Earth's oceans (volume - gotta love it
). I've not read the books either, but my sense from the TV show is that the tech level of the Expanse setting may not even be up to terraforming, let alone having completed it already by the time the story starts. The more so if they don't have neumanns and such.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'Expanse Canon' - please elaborate.
Water is valuable to a solar civ and Ceres could certainly mine and export the stuff all over the place - but I don't see them as having mined the place dry based on my (admittedly very limited) understanding of that setting.
Todd