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Space colonization
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===Self-sustainment=== {{see also|von Neumann probe|Self-replicating machine|molecular nanotechnology}} ====In situ manufacturing==== [[Space manufacturing]] could enable self-replication. Some consider it the ultimate goal because it would allow an [[exponential growth|exponential]] increase in colonies, while eliminating costs to, and dependence on, Earth.<ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Ian |last=Crawford |title=Where are they? |magazine=Scientific American |volume=283 |number=1 |date=July 2000 |pages=38–43 |jstor=26058784 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26058784}}</ref> It could be argued that the establishment of such a colony would be Earth's first act of [[self-replication]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Margulis | first1 = Lynn | author-link = Lynn Margulis | last2 = Guerrero | first2 = Ricardo | year = 1995 | title = Life as a planetary phenomenon: the colonization of Mars | journal = Microbiología | volume = 11 | pages = 173–84 | pmid = 11539563 }}</ref> Intermediate goals include colonies that expect only information from Earth (science, engineering, entertainment) and colonies that just require periodic supply of light weight objects, such as [[integrated circuit]]s, medicines, [[DNA|genetic material]] and tools. ====Sustaining a population==== In 2002, the [[Anthropology|anthropologist]] [[John H. Moore]] estimated<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1936-magic-number-for-space-pioneers-calculated |title="Magic number" for space pioneers calculated |date=15 February 2002 |work=New Scientist |first=Damian |last=Carrington}}</ref> that a population of 150–180 would permit a stable society to exist for 60 to 80 generations—equivalent to 2,000 years. Assuming a journey of 6,300 years, the astrophysicist Frédéric Marin and the particle physicist Camille Beluffi calculated that the minimum viable population for a [[generation ship]] to reach [[Proxima Centauri]] would be 98 settlers at the beginning of the mission (then the crew will breed until reaching a stable population of several hundred settlers within the ship).<ref>{{cite journal |arxiv=1806.03856|last1=Marin|first1=F|title=Computing the minimal crew for a multi-generational space travel towards Proxima Centauri b|journal=Journal of the British Interplanetary Society|volume=71|pages=45|last2=Beluffi|first2=C|year=2018|bibcode=2018JBIS...71...45M}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/06/22/142160/this-is-how-many-people-wed-have-to-send-to-proxima-centauri-to-make-sure-someone-actually/ |magazine=[[MIT Technology Review]] |title=This is how many people we'd have to send to Proxima Centauri to make sure someone actually arrives |date=22 June 2018 |quote="We can then conclude that, under the parameters used for those simulations, a minimum crew of 98 settlers is needed for a 6,300-year multi-generational space journey towards Proxima Centauri b," say Marin and Beluffi.}}</ref> In 2020, Jean-Marc Salotti proposed a method to determine the minimum number of settlers to survive on an extraterrestrial world. It is based on the comparison between the required time to perform all activities and the working time of all human resources. For Mars, 110 individuals would be required.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Salotti |first1=Jean-Marc |title=Minimum Number of Settlers for Survival on Another Planet |journal=Scientific Reports |date=16 June 2020 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=9700 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-66740-0 |pmid=32546782 |pmc=7297723 |bibcode=2020NatSR..10.9700S |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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