iBots on Mars

Spatial Computing Contests

AHT Spatial Computing Challenges 

There are currently three AHT Spatial Computing GIS Mapping Challenges.

  1. Earth: The Appalachian Hypertunnel. Continuous, straight hypertunnel from Nashville, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia with a midpoint river crossing at Kimball, Tennessee. Spurs to Huntsville, Alabama and Chattanooga Tennessee from Kimball. Distance: ~ 220 miles, 350km. Change in elevation: ~400 feet, 
  2. Moon:  Moon LifeWay No. 1. Continuous, straight hypertunnel from the Moon’s South Pole to the equator. Distance: ~1,675 miles, 2,700km. Change in elevation: TBD.
  3. Mars: Mars Lifeway No. 1. Continuous, straight hypertunnel from Mars’ South Pole to Valles Marinares at the equator. Distance: ~ 3,400 miles, 5,500km. Change in elevation: ~ 36,000 feet, 11km.

Contestants

Anyone human can enter the contest. Any age, any nationality.

Contest Entry Fees 

  1. Free: Students under 18
  2. $3 USD: 18 to 22 years old 
  3. $30 USD: Individuals over 22 years old 
  4. $300 USD: Future AHT partners and contractors whose annual gross revenue is $100 million USD or less.
  5. $3,000 USD if your annual gross revenue is between $100 million and 1 billion USD.
  6. $30,000 if your annual gross revenue is greater than $1 billion USD.

Contest Winner

The contest winner will be determined by online voting by contestants, one vote each.

Contest Award

50% of contest entry fees will be awarded to the winner who will also share 50% of future net income generated by user access fees if allowed by the software provider.

Geospatial data is available for free from America’s USGS and other public sector sources. Private sector data may be available for a fee.

Challenge Number One: Earth’s AHT

The Appalachian Hypertunnel Project needs accurate dimensional drawings in two dimensions. Is this possible with today’s software combined with existing GIS datasets? The maps and drawings can be a single file or a series of linked files. 

Produce a continuous virtual topological map along The AHT path starting near Nashville BNA airport in an adjacent, undeveloped area to the East. Initial point for conceptual design purposes only.

36.122105, -86.655506

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WZJp1FfnJhGtdUPr7.  2400 Puley Road at bridge over McCrory Creek. Estimated elevation: ~525 feet.

Ending near Atlanta ATL airport in undeveloped area southeast of terminals and runways near the intersection of Interstates I75 and I285:

33.6291144, -84.4060308

https://maps.app.goo.gl/imQGTc2NxHaTs8sX9, North of intersection of Lake Mirror Road and Aviation Parkway.

The AHT will emerge from underground and cross the Tennessee River at Kimball, Tennessee, with spurs to Huntsville, Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

  1. Huntsville Spur at HSV:

            33.6291144, -84.4060308

https://goo.gl/maps/4KJqGLyc9w8Jjkcg7

     d. Chattanooga Spur at Moccasin Bend: 

         35.016106N, -85.328492W

https://goo.gl/maps/Br7MhZDu3D96GqDm6

A fifth spur is planned to TVA’s Bellefonte facility in Hollywood, Alabama along the banks of the Tennessee River.

  1. Produce surface elevation drawings along its path with user selectable intervals of:
    1. 10 km: Planning and conceptual design (~35 points)
    2. 1 km: Conceptual Design Review (~350 points)
    3. 10 meters: Detailed Design (~35,000 points)
    4. 1 meter: Construction (~350,000 points)
  2. Future: produce underground elevation drawings for the AHT 
  3. Available in visual and printed form, resolutions TBD.

This mapping tool shall be the joint intellectual property of the contest winner and The Appalachian Hypertunnel Project.

   2. Moon Spatial Computing Challenge 

The first Hypertunnel on Earth’s Moon is in the early planning stage. There are areas at the Moon’s South Pole where sunlight may be available up to 98% of the time. There may be frozen water available in quantities that may be economically viable for development.

The initial starting point for the first Hypertunnel on Earth’s Moon is to use fully autonomous tunnelbot swarms to construct a continuous 1,675 mile, 2,700km tunnel from the South Pole to the Moon’s equator. This first LifeWay on the Moon would provide the path for building connected, fully integrated colonies along its path.

The first part of this challenge is to determine the best path on Earth’s Moon that maximizes future use of native raw materials and natural resources needed to build permanent colonies and strong free market economies.

   3. Mars Spatial Computing Challenge 

The Mars Southern LifeWay 

The primary purpose of the Appalachian Hypertunnel Project is to create a profitable, working model that can be replicated solely by robots without humans physically present on the Moon and Mars.

Unlike Earth, neither the Moon or Mars has sufficient atmosphere to destroy meteorites before they strike the surface. Both the Moon and Mars have hostile materials on their surfaces. Both machines  and people will initially have to live, work and move underground for the foreseeable future.

Like Earth, both the Moon and Mars have an abundance of raw materials and natural resources. Unlike Earth, neither the Moon or Mars currently have any form of local government. Earth’s new space race is transitioning from the public to the private sector.  The new gold rush has already started.

You can contact Mark Fowler for additional information at:

mark.fowler@tennesseeriverandrail.com

Can you imagine re-creating the AHT on the Moon and Mars?

Until recently returning to the Moon was strictly controlled by a handful of unknown people in Earth’s public sectors. This is rapidly changing as people in the private sector awaken to the fact that new societies and free market economies will soon emerge beyond Earth.

The cost of lifting materials and equipment out of Earth’s gravity well has been falling down the S-curve, but it will always be more expensive than manufacturing and building what is needed to colonize the Moon and Mars using the materials that are already there.

Prospecting and mining will initially occur on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars as first-to-market pioneer robots find and harvest the lowest hanging fruit, but expanding to meet the rapidly increasing demand will require underground infrastructure.

To learn more about a possible large scale Hypertunnel built on Mars click on this link:

The Mars Southern LifeWay 

Where this will happen on the Moon and Mars is currently unknown but will soon emerge. The most important thing to send to these heavenly bodies is not people or robots, it is constellations of next generation satellites that can quickly locate the local raw materials.

To learn more about the five critical functions the satellite constellations must perform on the Moon and Mars click on this link:

(Link TBD)