orbital-engineering

This chapter details the transformation of the Amor asteroid 2034 B into New Clarke, a massive industrial complex that constructs a carbon nanotube cable to establish a space elevator on Mars. Over many years, robotic factories extract resources, build infrastructure, and use rockets and mass drivers to adjust the asteroid's orbit, eventually capturing it in Mars orbit and deploying the cable down to the planet's surface. The completed space elevator significantly reduces the energy cost of space travel to and from Mars, symbolizing a major technological and logistical advancement for Martian colonization.

This chapter describes the construction and deployment of massive solar mirrors and lenses made from asteroid materials to augment sunlight on Mars. The two large mirror structures, the annular mirror and the soletta, work in tandem to increase and control the amount of sunlight reaching the Martian surface, culminating in a total solar eclipse followed by a brighter, warmer sun. A smaller third mirror further concentrates sunlight into focused beams capable of melting the Martian surface, demonstrating advanced planetary engineering to transform Mars's environment.