For the human race to continue in the far future, we're going to have to live beyond planet Earth. Here are the 5 best options in our own solar system.
The 5 best options for colonizing in our solar system are:
The moon
Mars
Europa
Titan
Venus
The moon
Gravity: 1/6 that of earth
Air pressure: none
Temperature: extreme (253 in sun, -253 in shade)
- Why go - a place to launch to other places
Orbiting at 2288 mph (3683 kph) - significant boost
Advantages: Instant communication with Earth
Good place to learn how to colonize where Experts are available 24/7
Advantages: Lighter gravity means we could build bigger there
Advantages: could dome over craters to create housing
Advantages: water ice in some pole craters
One place we have talked a lot about is Mars
Mars
Gravity: Just over 1/3 (38%)
Air Pressure: .6% if Earth’s
Temperature: 70 in day (20C), -100 at night (-73C)
Why go: Most comfortable temperature-wise and gravity-wise, but pressure is still abysmal
Down-side: Thin atmosphere means not enough to support life but enough to make landings difficult.
Terraforming option - most potential for terraforming. Melting ice caps could pump CO2 into the air and thicken the atmosphere as well as warm the planet
Europa
Gravity: 13% of Earth’s
Air pressure: barely exists - mostly oxygen
Temperature: -260F -160C
This seems like a swing and a miss, but there’s something interesting under the surface of Europa
Tidal heating causes a sea of liquid water beneath the surface.
One of the best options for finding life in the solar system
Underwater habitats might be the answer.
Downside: radiation carried by Jupiter’s magnetic field would pose an issue
Titan
Gravity: 13% of Earth’s
Air pressure: 1.5x that of Earth
Temperature: -290F, -179C
Of all the places in the solar system, Titan’s air pressure is most like Earth’s
You could just walk around on the surface without a suit, except for the fact that it’s so cold methane flows in rivers.
Could use the methane for fuel
But I promised something controversial, and here it is, my personal favorite option for colonizing another planet… Venus.
Venus
Gravity: 91% of Earth’s
Air Pressure: 100x that of Earth
Temperature: 872F, 467C
Now I know what you’re saying, you’re saying Joe, that only meets one of the three criteria, how can you possibly pick that as your number one?
Because those numbers are for the planet’s surface. Up in the clouds, it’s a different story.
Venus’ air pressure is insane. On the surface, it would crush you like a soda can. But about 50 kilometers up in the atmosphere, it’s about the same as here.
Which means that just like a ship can float on top of the water, we could build colonies that float on the upper atmosphere of Venus.
It would still be hot, but manageable.
And I know people will always say, but what if you fall? Or if you drop something, you’ll never get it back. Well, I go back to the ship on the sea analogy. If you fall off the boat, you’re likely to drown. If you drop your phone over the side, you’ll never see it again. But we still have cruise ships carrying thousands of people and entire navies floating around out there.
Plus the communication time would be smaller than anywhere else.