Which place would make the best place to start a Jupiter Civilization

[Guest The Doodling Astronaut]

So I was watching Astrum the other day and he claimed that Calisto would be the best place for Humans to set up a Jupiter base because of the lower radiation levels compared to the other three moons. But Elon once tweeted that Ganymede would be a good place to set up a base.

How problematic is radiation on Ganymede and is it really better to settle Calisto 

[kerbiloid]

Callisto is the only big Jupiter moon outside of the deadly radiation belts.

Others need underground bases.

Though, anyway all of them lack the sun light and natural resources, so there is no purpose in them other than a scientific or a watchguard outpost.

[Spaceman.Spiff]

Go to Saturn instead.

[MKI]

I consider water, gravity and available harvestable energy to be the most important factors in gauging where humanity could build a base. Water can be used for oxygen, rocket fuel, and radiation shielding. 

 

AFAIK, none of the moons have any known harvestable energy sources we know of, so thats a challenge with any and all of them. Water seems abundant on a few, so that leaves gravity the last factor. Which is where Ganymede gets my vote. 

[FleshJeb]

http://toughsf.blogspot.com/2017/02/how-to-live-on-other-planets-jupiter.html?m=1

 

[Piscator]

I don't know if one seventh of a g instead of an eighth offers enough health benefits to counteract the effects of increased radiation exposure. Actually, since it's pretty much unknown whether lunar gravity levels offer that much of an advantage over no gravity at all, you might even choose one of the outer moons. After all, to reach Jupiter you'd likely have to spend a considerable time in microgravity anyway, so you'd probably be able to deal with it a bit longer. The ease of ferrying fuel, passengers and equipment from and to your base might very well be worth it.

If you're after harvesting, let's call it "geothermal" energy for simplicity's sake, you'd probably want to be as much inward as you can be (also if you're trying to utilize Jupiter's magnetic field in some way) but again, I don't know if it's worth the increased radiation exposure in the end.

[cubinator]

I personally would not want to get any closer to Jupiter than Callisto, unless there is a preventative cure for radiation sickness or something. And cancer too.

Edited November 15, 2021 by cubinator

[SunlitZelkova]

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030063128/downloads/20030063128.pdf

This 2003 NASA study chooses Callisto as a target.

Not sure what Elon was thinking. On Ganymede's surface, you get 50-80 mSv per day. The limit over the course of five years for Earthly employees involved with radiation is 100 mSv...

[Rakaydos]

On 11/16/2021 at 9:09 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030063128/downloads/20030063128.pdf

This 2003 NASA study chooses Callisto as a target.

Not sure what Elon was thinking. On Ganymede's surface, you get 50-80 mSv per day. The limit over the course of five years for Earthly employees involved with radiation is 100 mSv...

So how much of that gets through a space suit?

[kerbiloid]

Everything what isn't stopped by the suit material, causing the secondary gamma to get through.

[SSTO Crasher]

I think the best place would be Ganymede because it’s size makes it stable and provides a launch platform the the rest of the Jupiter system