Sounds like a must-read! But we need to think outside the current technology box. 1. Why colonize at all? Robotic probes with only marginally better shielding and instrumentation will send back near perfect visuals to us here as if we were walking on or flying over the surface of different planets and moons in person (gas giants excepted.). So much for tourism! Robotic factories with rail guns can do resource extraction and shipment to collection points in earth orbit or even to giant robotic manufacturies on the moon or Mars. No need to send humans into space..just to keep them alive for prolonged periods is both hideously difficult and expensive. So that's one future..human colonization and exploitation of system resources via robotic means. Very exciting.
The other future is even more exciting. We go out in person and dothe same things. Impossible right now, but not for long. Our advanced in bio-engineering are coming arriving at an astoundingly fast clip and thecdayvis coming, very soon in fact, when we will be able to bio-engineer ourselves into forms capable of prolonged survival, even conceivably outdoors, in environments like Mars. We will have our cities on Mars and walk outdoors in them!
I like both options and the way the future will likely unfold (if we're given the time) will be a mix of both. But in the long run in terms of getting all our eggs out of one basket, is the bio engineering approach. No reason a human can't be small or covered by something other than skin!
I have reached the opinion that Mars or The Moon are unsuitable for colonization because they are not massive enough, so gravity is not suitable for humans to survive or thrive. As you observed, other rocky planets don't have a breathable atmosphere or anything like Earth's magnetosphere that protects us from solar and cosmic radiation.
So, it's probably down to space stations with technology to reproduce those facts of life on Earth that are the most likely eventual home in space for humans.
Sounds like a must-read! But we need to think outside the current technology box. 1. Why colonize at all? Robotic probes with only marginally better shielding and instrumentation will send back near perfect visuals to us here as if we were walking on or flying over the surface of different planets and moons in person (gas giants excepted.). So much for tourism! Robotic factories with rail guns can do resource extraction and shipment to collection points in earth orbit or even to giant robotic manufacturies on the moon or Mars. No need to send humans into space..just to keep them alive for prolonged periods is both hideously difficult and expensive. So that's one future..human colonization and exploitation of system resources via robotic means. Very exciting.
The other future is even more exciting. We go out in person and dothe same things. Impossible right now, but not for long. Our advanced in bio-engineering are coming arriving at an astoundingly fast clip and thecdayvis coming, very soon in fact, when we will be able to bio-engineer ourselves into forms capable of prolonged survival, even conceivably outdoors, in environments like Mars. We will have our cities on Mars and walk outdoors in them!
I like both options and the way the future will likely unfold (if we're given the time) will be a mix of both. But in the long run in terms of getting all our eggs out of one basket, is the bio engineering approach. No reason a human can't be small or covered by something other than skin!
I love your sci-fi short stories on bioengineering!
I think we should work harder to save this planet before we attempt to destroy another… sorry « but its cool » is really lame
Sounds like a good read, Sam.
I have reached the opinion that Mars or The Moon are unsuitable for colonization because they are not massive enough, so gravity is not suitable for humans to survive or thrive. As you observed, other rocky planets don't have a breathable atmosphere or anything like Earth's magnetosphere that protects us from solar and cosmic radiation.
So, it's probably down to space stations with technology to reproduce those facts of life on Earth that are the most likely eventual home in space for humans.