09-16-2015, 10:12 AM
Habitats around Jupiter or Saturn have the advantages of having the rings and moons nearby. They would also be useful for science or tourism involving the planets and their moons.
In terms of materials it's better than being in the Asteroid Belt because the asteroids are so spread out. If orbiting Jupiter or Saturn the rings and moons are always (relatively) nearby. Of course in the Belt you'd be near at least one asteroid, because why would you settle elsewhere, and one is likely to be enough for a while.
Sunlight is less in the Belt and around the gas planets, and in a probe that has to fit in a launch vehicle and be launched from Earth that's a problem. But a habitat can bring the sunlight up to Earthly levels (or more!) by building a big honking flimsy mirror which masses less than the habitat itself. In fact that can be done even into the Kuiper Belt.
Disadvantages are the long communication times and even longer trip times to and from Earth, but perhaps by the time we're building anything out there that won't be so important. Sort of like if I'm building something in Texas I'm more worried about how far away it is from Dallas and Houston instead of how far away it is from London and Paris.
In terms of materials it's better than being in the Asteroid Belt because the asteroids are so spread out. If orbiting Jupiter or Saturn the rings and moons are always (relatively) nearby. Of course in the Belt you'd be near at least one asteroid, because why would you settle elsewhere, and one is likely to be enough for a while.
Sunlight is less in the Belt and around the gas planets, and in a probe that has to fit in a launch vehicle and be launched from Earth that's a problem. But a habitat can bring the sunlight up to Earthly levels (or more!) by building a big honking flimsy mirror which masses less than the habitat itself. In fact that can be done even into the Kuiper Belt.
Disadvantages are the long communication times and even longer trip times to and from Earth, but perhaps by the time we're building anything out there that won't be so important. Sort of like if I'm building something in Texas I'm more worried about how far away it is from Dallas and Houston instead of how far away it is from London and Paris.