Arkologistics

 The science of Arkologistics is the study of how to build self-contained ecologically stable biomes, with sustainable cities, inside rotating space colonies. While, as the name suggests, the first challenge will be the logistics of sourcing the needed materials and getting them together to be assembled into an air-and-water-tight hull, that is an engineer's job. I'm more interested in the reasons why we should build them, and the purposes they are to be used for. 

The largest of the "Arks" will be designed as semi-wild parklands to showcase the variety and diversity of our beloved landscapes, and kept as preserves to help maintain important species and essential interconnections for the biomes that keep our planet healthy. But of course, we will be building these huge rotating space colonies not just for nature preserves, but for ourselves. Such habitats can house whole cities with suburbs, parks and farmlands designed for primarily human habitation, so that we can all live and work on the high frontier. Indeed, the construction of these behemoth space stations will be the fulfillment of millennia of religious hope, as we transition our civilization into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Part One: Preservation 

Depending on the size of habitat we can build, we will want to create as much room for nature as we can. Noah clearly had a grand vision, but practically, he could only save the animals that he knew, and those would primarily be his farm animals. We want to save whole regions, if not the planet itself, from potential disaster and indiscriminate extinction of multiple species. To do this, we will want to build many cylinders, or spheres, to accommodate one biome in each, at least until we can build them the size of continents, and not just small islands. 

Which kinds of biomes will we want to save? Of course, the places that are most popular and desirable as places to live or visit will be the ones we will choose first. But we still have to consider how they all fit together with the synergy to keep our planet running and healthy. The following examples may be among the earliest choices:

1. Appalachian & Luoxiao mountains 

2. Tropical Islands (Pacific, Caribbean, Indian)

3. Brazilian & Congo rainforests 

4. Grasslands, plains & prairies 

5. Riparian flood-plains & bayou deltas 

6. Boreal forests & tundra 

7. Cactus deserts & date palm oases 

8. Coral reefs & shallow seas 

9. Fresh water rivers & lakes 

10. Antarctic & Arctic ice lands 

11. Peruvian & Tibetan plateaus 

12. Sumatra, Borneo & Australian jungles 

These biomes will include the widest variety of plants and animals that will be beneficial to humans and to each other. The purpose is to imitate, insofar as possible, a complete ecosystem in a harmonious, wild but Eden-like state. This should include predators, but leave out diseases. This is not a landscape untouched by Mankind, but one in which we are integral and needed to maintain its order and balance, and we replenish what we take.

There is no need to rescue creatures that have evolved to be parasitic or poisonous, unless they are required to balance the ecosystem. We can try to find alternate species of similar skills, but lesser danger, to fulfill their functions if such are necessary. A forest with both chestnuts and elms is much preferable to one decimated by diseases, and mice can be controlled without rattlesnakes. It will be interesting to see if we can have dragonflies without mosquitoes, and how they will adapt to catch other prey. 

There is no need to preserve either the bane due to Pandora's curiosity, nor the curse from the Fall from Grace. If we cannot return to a simple state of innocence, let us at least fulfill our jobs as stewards of creation, and make peace with the necessity of labor.

Part Two: Vocations 

In every habitat cylinder or sphere, there will be a community of people. While we cannot hope to return to using primitive technology, we do have a vested interest in maintaining the machines and infrastructures that keep the functionality of the shell and its plumbing operational. In large part, this will be focused on the maintenance and repair of robots that patch incidental damages or clean corrosion, and log locations that may need reinforcing.

Plus, there will always be a need for imported materials, so we cannot allow ourselves to become insular and isolated. We will need to keep a fleet of asteroid mining and transport ships, both autonomous and manned, to collect the necessary elements, or even to build manufacturing bases to prefabricate parts. These can become commodities for trade, depending on their distribution and rarity. Not only metals, but also fertilizers, or even carbon or water may need occasional replenishing. Recycling is never 100%, no matter how hard we try. And of course, there will be most, if not all of the occupations that we are familiar with down here on the surface of our planet. 

First, we have to feed and clothe ourselves, so there will be farms. A lot of our vegetables will be grown in hi-tech organic greenhouses and hydroponic facilities, while our row crops like corn or cotton can be grown without pesticides or herbicides. And we should also give enough room for our animals to live in pastures, rather than feedlots, for their own health and ours when we consume them. Grass fed and free roaming livestock is both healthier and happier, compared to feedlot and factory beasts. 

We should not keep our efforts focused on only a few foods. There are a hundred or more kinds of foods that are really healthy for us, even when we limit or disuse the ones that cause problems. We can begin with the "superfoods" and build up as much variety as we need, limiting the grains and sugars, and keeping the fruits to their seasonal levels of abundance. Everything can be grown without poisons, and without the supermarket pressures to use drugs or preservatives to create perfect or non-spoiling products. Most of the problems those were meant to "solve" will have been left behind on Earth. The farms will be close to the markets, which may take on an open air style, and it will all be fresh.

Our clothing can be manufactured from more natural materials, too. We don't really need everything to be made of synthetic, petrol-based materials. Cotton, linen, leather, rubber, etc. These are good for the environment, and adequate for everyday wear. The only time we will need artificial materials to wear will be when we need to face hazardous conditions, like to clean up chemical spills, or when venturing out into space. The occasional bits of metal, for buckles, buttons, zippers or snaps can be made from nickel steel, which will be abundantly available. 

And the weather inside a space habitat will probably be mostly under control, and reasonably predictable, so we won't have to worry about exposure. Transportation can be mostly on foot or bicycle, as long commutes to work will be unnecessary. Everyone can wear a light pack, or carry a purse, to keep an umbrella or rain jacket handy, as well as having a snack and drink ready if needed. Outdoor exercise will likely be very popular, when we have plenty of open parklands and the air is clean. 

Part Three: Habitats are Sacred 

When we begin to build enormous structures in space, we are making a statement. We are saying that humanity is emerging into a new era of history, moving beyond the ephemeral, fragile conditions of a world subject to the whims of natural chaos. We are celebrating the idea that God created the world and populated it with life. By building an Ark, we are affirming that the creation is good. And by our selections of what we want to save, we are working to reestablish the original purity of the Garden of Eden. It will remain only for us to purify our hearts, so that we can walk in those gardens side by side with God.

When we populate the Ark with the full variety of species from a biome that we intend to preserve, we are also fulfilling a sacred vocation. Our position as the apex intelligent species on the planet, with the most potential to change the ecosystems we inhabit, places a responsibility upon us to be thoughtful stewards, and to replenish the resources that we extract from the earth. 

Although removing large numbers of specimens, of many species, from key habitats may look like a wholesale harvesting, in actuality we are setting aside and banking the rich variety of life. And while we are doing that, we can study the ways that the plants and animals live together, so that we can find the balance of each niche in the biome. In that way, the overall system can work in harmony, almost automatically with minimal supervision. And then, if anything happens to the Earth that damages its biomes, we will have the species saved in space, in an Ark, from which to repair its integrity and replenish its life.

Another aspect of the sacred respect we will have for these awe-inspiring space habitats comes from the obvious idea that they will be symbolic of Heaven itself. The cities they contain with be home to people who will likely refer to themselves as "saved," since they too will be preserved as a backup for the human species in case of disaster. And it will be our natural preoccupation to be always looking for ways to make life better, and to cure or minimize the causes of suffering. If we ever discover the full secrets of living for centuries, and not just decades, the space colonies will be certain to use them.

So first and last, we must do all we can to protect and respect the immense value that the Space Arks represent. They are our gifts to all of the future generations of Humanity, and to the Earth itself. And they will be lasting monuments to our having finally matured as a species, and thus chosen to establish the benefits of peace among all creatures. It will be an everlasting promise, like the way God set his rainbow in the sky. We will have rebuilt Noah's Ark, and set that in the Heavens as our promise. We promise to choose Life.