We have talked about many space races so far. At first, countries that only wanted to go to the space frontier started their first Moon programs. While this race continues for Mars, the race for the first factory in space has also started. So why is it so important to produce in a zero-gravity environment? Here is the idea of space factories and the details…
Why is it so important to produce in space, in a zero-gravity environment?
First of all, if you haven’t seen the Wall-E animation, we recommend you to watch it. Because the first example to give on this subject is pollution and we can best explain it with that animation. In the movie Wall-E, the story revolves around a robot who stays in the world and cleans up the messes of people who have left the world. Perhaps the biggest factor in this pollution is factories and production.
Even though we are taking steps to protect nature and the environment, no step is 100 percent successful. So one day our planet will really turn into a big garbage dump. However, the human race, which focuses on consumption, will continue to consume more and create more garbage. In the short term, the most logical solution to this problem may seem to be “colonization on Mars”.
But imagine if you had to create a life there from scratch. Nobody would probably like the idea of walking around Mars with 20 kilograms of clothing and a 10 kilogram oxygen tank. So it makes the most sense to stay on the blue planet. But what if we send the polluters into space,
At first this idea sounds ridiculous and more harmful. But the reality is very different. A factory in space would not be subject to the same laws of physics as on Earth. Like gravity or fluid mechanics. Or perhaps the biggest problem on production lines: wear and friction.
Space is less affected by all these laws of physics, which means perfect levels of cutting, vacuuming, etc. manufacturing labor in space. The detail you should not overlook here is that as long as the “manufacturing labor is kept at the perfect level”, there is less pollution and cost. Of course, there is also the advantage of less polluting the Earth by placing heavy industrial establishments, which emit toxic gases but are necessary for the continuation of life, in space.
Many companies are making strides on the subject. Billionaire Jeff Bezos is also very interested in space factories. For now, there is no revolutionary step in this regard, but it is not impossible to use a smartphone produced in space in the future.