INDUSTRY & TECHNOLOGY

The next question that came to our mind was whether this project is sustainable or not. Sceptics might say that art revenue is so low that it cannot support space exploration. We believe that Art-for-Aphrodite is sustainable for various reasons.  Auctioning famous paintings and sculptures will not only raise millions of dollars which could provide food and other necessities for the settlers, but promote the expedition to people in other fields rather than scientific ones, which are very much sought after, as we will describe in the psychology chapter. For instance, Constantin Brancusi is a Romanian artist and philosopher whose sculpture was sold recently by an auction house for 71 million USD. We believe Mr Brancusi would have been proud to sponsor missions to space as almost all his artworks relate the communion between soul and space, the most famous artwork being “The Column to Infinite”. We understand that national patrimony cannot sponsor private missions but, as a lot of his artworks are part of private collections, we believe that collectionairs will be willing to give Mr Brancusi another reason to rest in peace. And if we look at contemporary artists that are following in Mr. Brancusi footsteps, we find another Romanian artist, Adrian Ghenie, who has already started donating to good causes. We are confident that there are so many artists in this world that will support this initiative. The expensive and famous paintings would be donated by either private individuals fighting for a great cause or organisations such as museums, which would benefit them in terms of media exposure and customer appreciation. Overall, it is a win-win for both parties.  It’s already been proven that events which gather artists for a week in annual forums, had a lot of success. It all started with Art Basel in Switzerland and due to its success it expanded to Hong Kong and then Miami. From that we can conclude that aartists definitely need a place to meet so who else is more appropriate that events organized by “Space Horizons Foundation”?  Artists have infinite sources of ideas, therefore, challenging them in a competition can be an inspiration for infinite projects that will ensure cash flow towards space exploration Business plan  Come up with a name, a mission and a strategy  Identify if business sustainable  Develop a marketing strategy  Engage volunteers and space enthusiasts Capital coming from funds collected in step 1 will be reinvested towards another company that will be in charge with production of spaceships to Aphrodite.

One of the things a settlement requires to facilitate its development is the ability to sustain itself. Therefore, the production of goods, be it basic or more complex ones, play a huge role in the establishment of a healthy environment, namely a place capable of sustaining human life. Our plan, in the first instance, is to focus on basic industries such as agriculture, pharmaceutical, manufacturing/materials, textile, metallurgy. Location-wise, each dodecahedron will house at least one factory.

Agriculture

As far as we are concerned, agriculture will represent a priority, because by providing us with the obvious, which is food, it will offer us other kinds of raw materials that will benefit other industries, for instance, textile. Another point worth making is related to our diet that is going to be mainly plant-based and taking into consideration that we are limited to keeping small numbers of animals as it implies losing massive amounts of water and other resources, we will have to invest heavily in agriculture.

Textile

Our textile production is going to be mainly plan-based as well. The reasons are linked to the fact that it would benefit the settlement if we omitted chemicals altogether. What’s more, natural textiles can be easily recycled. Therefore, we find textiles made out of hemp to be the most sustainable option in the long run.

Hemp comes from Cannabis Sativa, a plant that is easy to grow as it doesn’t require that much nutrition and water in the soil. It also does not need pesticides. Regarding the fiber itself, it is biodegradable, and it requires very few substances for its production. The fabric is UV resistant, durable, breathable and it also softens over time.

Manufacturing and materials

Heavy materials will primarily be obtained through scouting the surrounding areas. We aim to develop technologies that we will allow us to explore the Venusian surface from which we could extract the granite, basalt rocks, silicon, aluminum, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, titanium, manganese. Another option would be to collect debris and other materials found in space and then recycle them. In what manufacturing is concerned, we will create the objects we have on Earth, furniture, tools and others. Also, we will use 3D Printers to obtain the necessary things, as they are both easy to use and cost-effective.

Pharmaceutical

Pharmaceuticals are rather indispensable in the healthcare system and they play a major role in the development of our settlement. Since our resources will be limited, we expect major investments in the space exploration sector, as we consider it of utmost importance to find new sources of raw materials. We will concentrate on developing natural and effective treatments by using the plants grown on board. By synthesizing various chemical compounds found in medicinal plants we could obtain a wide variety of pharmaceuticals: antibiotics, anti-depressants, probiotics, flu antivirals, contraceptives. However, our main concern will be to strengthen inhabitants’ immune systems by making them less dependent on these types of treatments and by administrating daily doses of vitamins. Here we have a table of plants in which we can find substances mandatory in the production of important drugs.

Metallurgy

The obtaining of metals is going to be made through asteroid mining. It is widely accepted that asteroids contain nickeliron, silicates, and important metals such as gold, cobalt, iron, copper, platinum. As there is an infinite number of asteroids around the solar system, we could consider our metal resources endless, however, these missions could prove to be not so cost-effective. Primarily, to extract the metals from the asteroids we will use shaft mining. We will form a hole through the asteroids, and from top to bottom we will sink a shaft that will extract the ores and other minerals.

1. Poopy

2. Digitalis 3. Willow bark 4. Mycelia sterilia (fungus) 5. Galega Officinalis

6. Mint

opiates

digoxin

Pain relief

Arrhythmia Salicylic acid (aspirin) Anti-clotting/pain-relief Myriocin Guanidine antibiotic Lowering of bloodsugars

Menthol Nasal congestion