How would I transport an atmosphere?

An abandoned outpost from a long extinct race is discovered. It can easily be repaired and would make an ideal location for a colony, however it has been breached and any usable air has been long lost to space. The outpost has its own power systems that we are capable of turning back on and using, however there is no method on the station to create a breathable environment for humans. It's quite the journey and a colony ship would need to be in transit for more than a decade to reach its destination.

If a colony ship was dispatched to this location, what would it need to bring to generate enough Earth-like air for the population to breathe and use?

My first idea was solid ammonia and liquid oxygen"¦ Burn the ammonia and let it release its nitrogen along with water. Use electrolysis to recover some of the oxygen back as required (or leave it as usable water). The issues here:

• Way too high of a oxygen to nitrogen ratio"¦ as nice as ammonia is for this, the nitrogen content is relatively low and is created at a 3:1 ratio with oxygen.
• Need to carry too much liquid oxygen. It would be nice if one chemical compound can be released instead of two separate ones"¦ also not a fan of storing high pressure gas on a long trek colony ship
• Too much hydrogen"¦ there are a few uses for it (water/fuel), however the ratio of nitrogen to hydrogen is too low and an excess of hydrogen is created in trying to get Earth-like conditions.

Assume any chemical compound can be reasonably manufactured. Liquid gasses require high pressure and have some degree of danger in space transport"¦ solid compounds preferred, but not an end all.

What would you take on your colony ship to create an Earth-like atmosphere in as little amount as storage space possible and as safely as possible?

It is preferable to bring the material on the ship as opposed to trying to harvest it. The tech level on the propulsion systems is limited and the speed to get there depends on some gravitational slingshotting to get it up to speed already, so there isn't the opportunity to stop to harvest anything and then re accelerate.

posted almost 10 years ago

Twelfth‭

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