What is Space Colonization?
Space colonization is a process that in the future could mean that people settle on other bodies of celestial objects than the earth.
The reason why we would like, or have to, colonize other celestial bodies in the future could vary.
However, the biggest reason why we would like to implement space colonization in the future is that the earth would no longer be habitable in the future; There are many environmental threats today, such as the greenhouse effect, which could lead to environmental disasters in the future.
The greenhouse effect is already causing the ice on the poles to melt and the sea level to rise; we get more extreme weather and our conditions for a continued life on earth are getting worse and worse. In addition, it is man himself who is behind the greatest environmental problems.
Of course, the best thing would have been if we could reduce our emissions enough to prevent our impact on the climate, since man can then stay on earth. If we do not succeed in preserving the earth in sufficient condition for future generations to have reasonable conditions for living here, there are two options for humanity: either we die, or we colonize another celestial body, where conditions are better than on it. (in the future possibly) destroyed the earth.
So far, however, space colonization is a thought process that has never taken place (by “never happened” is meant that the process has never been carried out by man; the possibility exists that space colonization has been carried out by other forms of life, elsewhere in the universe [however we do not yet know to, and may never discover, extraterrestrial life]). Although space colonization has never taken place, there is much hope that the future will be able to colonize other celestial bodies than the earth.
The suitability of celestial bodies
When it comes to colonizing other celestial bodies, it is of course very important which celestial body you choose. If man were to colonize a celestial body, the most important thing is to find one that is as similar to the earth as possible, because the purpose of space colonization is that man should be able to live on other celestial bodies, and our conditions for living on another celestial body are greater. more like the earth this celestial body is; it is in an environment that on earth that man is destined to live, that is where we survive best. Since the only other celestial body man ever visited is the Earth’s own moon, the moon, we do not know very much about how conditions on different planets would affect human health.
One thing we do know, though, is that astronauts who stay in weightlessness (or orbit) for a long period of time lose a relatively large proportion of muscle mass, their skeletons weaken and balance sense deteriorates; because man is built to withstand the gravity of the earth, our bodies do not feel good about staying in weightlessness.
However, gravity is present on all planets and moons, so these effects are unlikely to be as great as after a time of weightlessness. However, many planets have a different gravitational force than the earth, either higher or lower than we are used to. However, the gravitational force is just one of the many factors that could have affected the human body, and that astronauts’ bodies are affected so much in weightlessness is a sign that we know quite a bit about how the man would be affected by life on other celestial bodies than our own.
When it comes to choosing the right celestial body, search could have gone as far into the universe as possible, but there is a very decisive factor in which celestial bodies man can reasonably successfully colonize within a, not too distant, future: distance.
So if we then put together the two biggest factors for possible space colonization, the distance to the celestial body and the celestial environment, we get a limited range of planets, moons and small planets in our own solar system.
The planets whose suitability is greatest are the Earth planets (because they are most similar to Earth), Mercury, Venus and Mars, but also some gas planets as well as some of the different planets’ moons: Moon (Moon of the Earth), Europe (Jupiter) and Titan ( Saturn). Other celestial bodies that are considered sufficiently suitable for colonization are some of the small planets (i.e., the celestial bodies that orbit the sun, but are too small to be called planets), such as Ceres or Pluto.
Mercury:
Mercury is the planet that is first in order in our solar system, calculated from a distance from the sun. Mercury’s only real resemblance to the earth is that it is an earth planet where (speculated) there is water in the form of ice. Mercury has about the same size as the Earth’s moon.
Venus:
Venus is the second planet in our solar system (the earth is the third), measured at a distance from the sun and due to its proximity to our star, a much more extreme climate than the earth. However, Venus has some similarities to the Earth: Venus is about the same size as the Earth and therefore has a similar gravitational force to the Earth.
March:
Mars is perhaps the planet most likely for humans to colonize. Mars is an earth planet that has an atmosphere that is very rich in carbon dioxide, which would facilitate the cultivation of terrestrial plants.
Saturn:
Saturn may seem like a somewhat strange choice of celestial body for colonization, since Saturn is a gas giant whose atmosphere contains mostly hydrogen and helium. Strong hurricanes are also constantly in the atmosphere. Many argue that this gas giant could be a reasonable target for human colonization, and it is probably the celestial body that is lowest in the list of celestial bodies to colonize. But there are some factors that suggest that it could be possible to colonize Saturn. Although Saturn is extremely much larger than Earth, it has a gravity that is actually very similar to Earth’s.
Moon
Perhaps the celestial body that is the most realistic target of human colonization. Although the moon does not have very good conditions for a colony, one cannot ignore the fact that man has actually already visited the moon.
Apart from the fact that the moon is the natural satellite of the earth (and therefore has a very small distance to the earth), there is nothing that makes it a suitable place for colonization. The moon lacks atmosphere, which means that there is no type of weather there (something that can be positive in terms of colonization).
It is believed that one could grow food in greenhouses on the moon, and breed some animals.
Just because man visited the moon and could do it again, many countries have concrete plans to colonize the moon.
Right now, it seems that the colonization of any celestial body other than the moon is very remote; if we manage to reach one of the celestial bodies that have a reasonable distance from the earth (the celestial bodies in our solar system), we will still encounter a great many problems.
The problems can be anything from the fact that gravity is too high or low, the temperature is too high or low or that the atmosphere consists of the wrong kind of substance. None of the celestial bodies in our solar system seem to be sufficiently Earth-like for us to have sufficient conditions to live there. Because of all the problems that one would encounter in the colonization of another celestial body and the extreme distances to the extrasolar celestial bodies (celestial bodies outside our solar system) where there are already conditions for living, the idea that one could change the celestial bodies which actually has a reasonable distance to the earth to look more like the earth and thus create the conditions for life there.
