Earth survival proposal accepted for publication: a sunshade, Jupiter fusion, and a new orbit

Gabriel Harry’s Earth-survival proposal has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. In the paper, he lays out a planet-scale plan: cool Earth with a sunshade, make up for the sunlight that would be lost by importing energy, and, much farther down the line, move Earth into a wider orbit.

Stellarium Download

He’s starting from a real long-term problem. Stellar evolution models suggest that in about 1 billion years, the Sun’s growing luminosity could boil away Earth’s oceans. Around 5 billion years from now, when the Sun enters its red giant phase, it could engulf the inner planets, with Earth possibly among them.

Harry’s first move is to place a giant sunshade at the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, the spot between Earth and the Sun, so less radiation reaches the planet as the Sun gets brighter.

That shade would also cut off heat and light Earth still needs, so the proposal adds fusion reactors deep inside Jupiter’s hydrogen and helium atmosphere, with power beamed back to Earth. Outside experts say both fusion and large-scale industry in that setting are far beyond what current engineering can do.

Later, a carefully redirected asteroid would make repeated gravitational assists to push Earth into a wider orbit. Critics warn that even small mistakes could disrupt Earth, the Moon, or the wider solar system.

If you keep up with far-future space ideas, this is an interesting thought experiment to read, even if experts don’t see it as a practical roadmap. They also point out that geoengineering debates still don’t include enough voices from Asia, Africa, and South America.

You can find Harry’s paper in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.