Solar System Candidates for Colonization

In a few recent posts others and I have promoted the idea of terraforming and/or colonizing other bodies of the solar system as a solution to both the environmental and physical limitations of providing for an expanding human population and quality of life and also as a solution for the inherent human need among some to expand their horizons.Any effort at eventual colonization requires that we recognize how inhospitable the environment of space or objects without atmospheres is to multicellular life due to various forms of harmful radiation and how the lack of gravity eventually interferes with bodily integrity. There are potential solutions to these problems such as heavy insulation, centrifugal force, and burrowing underground. I would like to explore such problems and potential solutions as a necessary part of this discussion.Just to get things started, I believe any solar body that has dirt and water, or can potentially obtain dirt or water if lacking one or the other, is a candidate with the exception of the actual planetary bodies of the gas giants due to gravity and for obvious reasons the actual surface of the sun (Hollywood not withstanding).As I have stated before, one could terraform Mars with some selective cometary orbit adjustments, shade Venus and provide it with some genetically engineered bacteria that eats carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid, and place fusion reactors on Ganymeade and Callisto (to start, many other moons are also candidates), for warmth, electricity, desalinization and industry. Even space can potentially be colonized using some variant of Gerard K. O'Neill's cylinders.Sometimes my PNTs work and sometimes they die of neglect, nonetheless, I think there may be some interest and I sure would like to hear others thoughts in this forum.I think science forum would be best,Edited by anglagard, : Remove double variant of heat.

I am having trouble seeing how this is relevant to the creation/evolution discussion. I noticed that when I couldn't find a science forum that it seems to fit in.Maybe you should just put it in coffee house and have a go at it?

Coffee House would be fine.

Thread copied here from the Solar System Candidates for Colonization thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

VenusPersonally I think a large enough space station to be self sufficient is a first step . It could be tethered to the moon with an elevator system to obtain raw materials, and could also serve as a way station to the asteroids and mars.When I read "ringworld" by Larry Niven back in the 70's I liked the idea but felt it would be more feasible around a planet ... or the moon ... as a start.Enjoy

I doubt that this is ever going to happen.As population pressures increase, and the effects of global warming become more apparent,
people will become more conservative, more unwilling to spend money on such a venture, and more short-term in their thinking.

For modern day humans, Mars isn't a good option. It is the lack of a molten core producing a magnetic field that is the problem. Without that magnetic field around the planet, the radiation at the surface will always be too high. I understand why Elon Musk thinks it is important to foster a pioneering wanderlust, but that is all it will ever be for Mars.Radiation from the massive magnetic field around Jupiter and Saturn are also a problem for those moons.In the end, our best bet is to engineer ourselves to live in zero g. I think our technology has to advance several orders of magnitude before we can seriously consider leaving Earth. We need to reach the point where we no longer need to take what the universe has given us, and instead build our own worlds from scratch. Niven's Ringworld is a bit cliched, but the back of the envelope calculations show that we already have enough mass in Jupiter and/or Saturn to build ring that is as big as the orbit of Earth. It would house an enourmous number of people.

This is the exact reason I started this topic, to find out about possibilities I did not know exist.

Venus does not have any magnetic field to speak of either most likely because it's rotation is too slow. Surely it would be easier to live in space then try to make the surface of Venus tolerable for life. Enough solid matter with sufficient strength?

Considering the amount of radiation almost any potential candidate for colonization is subjected to, living on the surface would be the height of idiocy.Multicelluar lifeforms would need to live underground, until in the very long term, a few nearby planets could be terraformed. Let the robots dig the holes, you need the water to feed the reactors and the dirt to build the supporting infrastructure (another task primarily for the robots).However, I tend to agree that Mars is not an ideal candidate in its present form, mainly due to an apparent lack of a sufficient amount of water. Nothing a gentle nudge of some of those smaller Kupier Belt and Ort Cloud objects couldn't handle in arriving at the selected target with minimal energy given the great distance. It will just take a very long time for poor little Mars to assimilate the necessary mass to remotely gain a significant atmosphere.As for the outer moons of Jupiter, Ganymede and Callisto, once again let the robots dig the holes and build the habitat - they have both dirt and water in sufficient quantities to feed the fusion reactors and provide structural materials. They also have at least some gravity, IIRC Ganymede has around a 15% and Callisto 13% of Earth's (Moon is 16%), so it might be enough to somewhat negate the long term effects of zero gravity. I think in the (relatively) short term, they may be the best suited and closest objects for significant colonization.Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.

I completely agree the Moon is a necessary first step and the elevator idea is at least theoretically feasible. I also think bringing the more useable small asteroids (think Fe-Ni) and particularly small comets that get a bit too close into a Lagrange orbital node would be a lot better than trying to economically pull any significant water, oxygen, or heavier metals, out of the Earth's gravity well.Large enough space stations to create artificial gravity are a very important initial step, although they would need sufficient shielding against radiation for any permanent habitation (perhaps those little Fe-Ni asteroids should be mined from the inside out). To me, launching a thinly-lined tin can from Earth to Mars just to say you survived the trip would be incredibly stupid and wasteful without employing these intermediate steps.

Manipulating Oort cloud objects? with what? Neptune?

Mass Drivers are one possibility, and the physics of "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" appears well established and is particularly suited to the vacuum of space. Other possibilities include fusion engines and ion engines although the latter may require an initial boost to get things moving.

Of course. The idea of terraforming Venus may be even more challenging than that of Mars. I think it more likely humanity will live in space stations orbiting Quaoar and Eris (more dirt relative to ice than other Trans-Neptunian Objects) before terraforming either Mars or Venus makes any substantial headway.However, if possible, one should consider the eventual benefit of having three Earth-like habitats, although even if severely terraformed Mars will be like the Himalayas after a millennia if we are lucky.The ringworld I propose around Venus would be more a dragster than bicycle tire and thinner with possible bubbles as habitats. The primary purpose is shade and solar electric generation. Even if feasible, terraforming Venus will take the greatest commitment but it will also have the greatest payoff, it will simply compete with Mars for taking the longest time.

So you are talking about disturbing comets that are within the solar system rather than disturbing objects that are out in the Oort cloud. Because the Oort cloud itself is really, really far away. Maybe 5-10,0000 AU. (Pluto is at about 40 AU) If instead you are talking about creating new comets by disturbing the Oort Cloud, we might just as well wait for Hell to freeze over and then talk about using the melting hell ice to provide water to Mars.