How to deliver materials necessary for terraforming?

A lifeless moon of a gas giant (which orbits a K-type star [4200K] at about 0.7 AU) is chosen to become home to a space colony. Colonists plan to transform it from a barren rock into a garden of Eden. Since this moon lacks water, nitrogen, and $CO_2$, they need to be mined in the asteroid belt and other gas giant moons and then delivered to the terraforming site. What is the most effective way to deliver these materials?

The colonists are looking for a delivery method that would provide results (such as atmosphere and free-flowing water) within years or decades. If it is absolutely impossible they can go into suspended animation and wake up in shifts to monitor the progress.

It would also be nice to avoid:

• changes in orbit or rotation of the moon;
• significant damage to the moon's surface;
• creation of a debris cloud around the moon (the colonists are strongly opposed to space littering);
• loss of already delivered materials (as seen in case of comet or asteroid bombardment).

Technological level

The colonists have access to the following technologies:

• fully automated and robotised asteroid mining;
• space travel at 1/10 of the speed of light;
• terraforming technologies (however, only one project has been completed successfully by the time of their departure);
• genetic engineering;
• suspended animation.

Technologies that are envisioned by scientists of today but cannot be built because of technical difficulties (materials, money, political will) are fine. However, something like teleportation is not possible unless it can be explained by existing science.

posted almost 7 years ago

Olga‭

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