Which planet, excluding distance from earth, would be best from human colonization.?

Question

which would take the least amount of human intervention to survive, and would it be possible to alter the enviornment of say mars by planting millions terrestrial plants there, would this create an atmosphere with oxygen, is that even possible?

Answer 1

mars is the best but they dont want us

Answer 2

As far as actual planets go, Mars would be the best candidate for a human settlement. Mars has a gravity that is 0.4 that of the Earth's so there would be some conditioning that would have to take place for any settlement. But that's the case for any extraplanetary settlement. The drawback to Mars is the lack of water.

Which is why I think the first space colony won't be on a planet, but on a moon. Specifically, Jupiter's moon Europa. Europa has geological activity, likely a result of being tugged by Jupiter's gravity and that of the gas giant's other moons. Scientists believe there is a liquid ocean under the surface of Europa, and that it has a metallic iron core, which allows it to produce it's own magnetic field. Europa also has an atmosphere, although a very faint, that is made up entirely of oxygen.

The difficulty in settling on Europa, besides the obviously weaker gravitational field on the moon, is the threat of Jupiter's massive magnetic field. Radiation on the surface of Europa is 10 times that of Earth's van Allen belt, meaning dwellings and any vegetation would have to be subterranean if it was to have any hope of surviving.

So the question is, would it be easier to get life to develop under the frozen surface of a moon that has a liquid ocean, or try to deliever enough water to a desert planet's surface?

Answer 3

My vote is for Mars. It has less problems (Mercury is too hot, Venus is hot and has a corrosive atmosphere, the gas giant planets would crush you, and poor Pluto is no longer considered a planet--though Canadians and Alaskans could probably handle the cold and settle in nicely there for the very long winters.)

Terra-forming Mars is unlikely. Its atmosphere was pretty much blown away by the Solar winds when it lost it's magnetic field (Earth could suffer the same fate) and without this magnetic field, it's low gravity precludes the sustainable development of a substantial atmosphere.

And yes, it's south polar ice cap is melting so it's getting warmer, probably because of those gas guzzling Rover SUV's NASA put up there (Blame Bush, if you desire).

Still, it would be quite possible for people to live in pressurized installations and grow food in hydroponic gardens.

Failing this, the best options wouldn't be planets at all: Ceres (cheap to escape it's gravity) and Titan (closer to Earth's mass with plenty of organic compounds to play with.)

Answer 4

you cannot create an atmosphere of oxygen by planting a bunch of trees. even if it were possible to just plant trees and you had nice fertile soil which would support them, and you had water and other nutrients and carbon dioxide for them, none of which you do, but even if you did, the oxygen that would be emitted from them would evaporate into space. the gases present on a planet are a function of the temperature and gravity on that planet, so you have to have the right balance in order to maintain a certain atmosphere. mars does not have that. i think the best bet in the solar system would be one of the moons of the gas giants

Answer 5

Well due to the fact the nearest planets outside our own solar system will never be fully known about until man learns the process of accelerating past the speed of light (and for that matter stopping this acceleration in an enviroment with no friction) the nearest planet for possible colonization would be Mars at this point.

As for how to create an atmosphere with oxygen that would be at breathable levels on Mars? Well there would be several possibilities. Green plants (mind you green plants) would need water in order to survive and the only water found so far on mars is frozen water. However it would be possible to place an organism of microscopic size on Mars to create oxygen. There are various organisms found to produce oxygen as a byproduct of their natural processes and other organisms which create various other gases which we find either in trace amounts or largely in our atmosphere. This process would be painstakingly slow however due to the volume of gases needed for surival of man. Until man has either advanced genetic manipulation of single celled organisms to be able to produce what would be needed on a long term scale mars will not be able to be fully "terraformed" as a planet that is fully liveable for the human species. Mind you colonization would be simpler, simply encase an area that would be able to withstand the many natural dangers of mars and fill this air tight "canister" with the needed gases. With the use of rebreather technology on a large scale mass for such "enclosed colonies" it would be possible to colonize mars as soon as we can find a way to get our materials there safely.

*Edit* And as far as the gases escaping the gravity of mars in the previous answer, we already know mars has an atmosphere, just one that is very thin and lacking due to years (billions) of being a "dead planet" with nothing to replenish the supply of the gases within the atmosphere. If things (living organisms: bacteria, plants etc) were there to replenish the supply of gases at a rate above that of the loss of gases Mar's atmosphere would eventually replenish itself.

Answer 6

Mars is the best bet at the moment. I think you should read the book:"The Case for Mars" by Robert Zubrin, PhD, where he gives a very down to Earth nuts and bolts discussion of all of these issues. (Or should I say, down to Mars?) It is available on Amazon and in many local book stores. Titan is another good place. It is the only other place in the solar system where a human on the surface would currently not need a space suit, only warm clothing plus a "scuba" type breathing apparatus.

Answer 7

Your not far off the mark there...My plan is to divert a comet to crash land on one of the ice caps...the water/ice of the comet and the heating up of the carbon dioxide ice cap should produce sufficient atmosphere to begin seeding billions of blue green algal spores..this would convert the carbon dioxide into oxygen over 50 years or so...In that length of time mankind should have invented artificial gravity devices to prevent the atmosphere from floating into space..Mars hasnt got much gravity!!

Voila

Answer 8

How about Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system. I saw many cloud spots in that planet, should have rain, and anything that can create life.

Answer 9

I think Saturn.