Where could We Go?

Question

In the future, when the Earth runs out of resources or is hit by a meteor etc etc. What Planets/Moons could we POTENTIALLY live on?

Answer 1

We could terraform Mars and probably Venus and make them liveable if we really wanted to. And, we could set up colonies and humans could live there and raise families. However, if you're talking about mass emigration, e.g. the relocation of humans to another planet, that's a completely different question.

Think about this. The largest ocean vessels we can build today are the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. They carry a crew of 5000. Without the aircraft and supplies, they could carry 10,000 to 12,000.

Let's assume that we could build a space craft capable of moving 10,000 people from Earth to Mars and that we have 1000 of them. And, let's assume that it takes a month to make the round trip.

1,000 ships x 10,000 people x 12 months = 120 million people per year.

There are 6.6 billion people on Earth.

6.6 billion / 120 million = 55 years

So, it would take 55 years to move our population to Mars. It just isn't feasible to move humans elsewhere on an emergency basis as you suggested. Think how much fighting there would be to get on one the ships.

We would need a number of very advanced technological breakthroughs to make it happen. Examples: room-temperature superconductors, propellant-less (gravitic?) propulsion.

If you are on Earth when the giant comet or asteroid hits, you're just doomed. Colonies on other planets would be our insurance policy against loss of our species, but not the loss of our individual lives.

Answer 2

With the technology we have right now, we couldn't live anywhere for very long for a few reasons:

1) No planets have an oxygen atmosphere!! Right now we just can't PRODUCE oxygen at a rate anywhere close to the amount we would need to accomodate even a fraction of the population. They are working on TERRA FORMING, or basically engeneering certain plants and trees so that they can grow either on another planet or the moon or at least in controled environments (think BIODOME) there. Plants, of course, produce oxygen and other gases in the exact correct proportion that humans and animals need to breathe. HOWEVER, it would take a WHOLE PLANET of trees and plants THOUSANDS of years to produce an atmosphere, so if we run into a sudden disaster, we certainly don't have that kinda time. So, we are simply not going to be able to breathe on a foreign planet/moon.

#2: What are we going to eat? Back to the TerraForming, they just have not gotten very good at growing plants on other planets. They have gotten pretty decent at maintaining viruses, molds, and some iveys in BioDome environments on other planets, but they are far from growing anything like tomatoes or potatoes or corn. Again, in the case of a sudden disaster, how much food are we actually going to be able to take with us? I would say less than a years worth, then we are done.

Plus, there is no significant sources of drinkable water that we are certain of on the moon, Mars, or Venus, so what are we going to drink?

#3: The body just can't endure long periods on differing gravity, differing temps, etc.. It is AMAZING that the conditions on this planet, atmosphere, distance from the sun, gravity, etc. are all PERFECTLY suited to all of our plants and animals, including us. We were taylored made (or taylor evolved) to be in these certain conditions. We just would not be able to adjust to the gravity, temperatures, etc. on other planets. The moon is 1/4 the size of the earth (two day trip from earth), Mars is 1/2 the size (6-8 month trip). Venus is roughly the same size as earth, but it is still a 4 month trip to get there. The high average temperature on the surface of Venus is 872 degrees F, hot enough to melt lead. The average low temperature on Mars is -207 degrees F, cold enough to kill you pretty quickly. The moon averages 136 degrees on the side facing the sun and -128 degress on the dark side. So, without even talking about the gravity, atmopheric pressue, etc., the temperatures alone are going to get to you REAL quick.

So, all and all, we just don't have the technology to do it right now!! Our best bet would probably be to save a small percentage of the population, live on a space station, and try to save and repopulate the earth or what was left of it!!

Answer 3

Think the proved that Mars wasn't a suitable living environment. Last I heard researchers are checking if Neptune or Uranus would be a suitable place to live, as they found one of the planets had water.

These planets are of course too far and much too cold. If anything does happen to the Earth in the near future, we would all probably die soon or later.

Answer 4

There is no planet in this solar system worth moving to. Mars is the closest to being habitable, but even it has serious problems, like toxic dust everywhere, no ozone layer or magnetic field to protect the surface from radiation, atmospheric pressure so low your blood would boil if you were not wearing a space suit, and no oxygen in the atmosphere. Earth, even after the combined effects of global warming, all out nuclear war and an asteroid strike, still looks like paradise in comparison to Mars.

Answer 5

There are no other "planets" in this solar system that would provide the minerals we would need to create a suitable long term survival structure...

However...

Jupiter has three moons that are covered in Ice, with a liquid ocean of water under it. Spectral analysis suggests that there may even be carbon life in that water. Bacteria, Algae maybe?

First you would want to look at Europa. Then try Ganymede (larger than Mercury). Lastly there's Callisto...

Each of these is very cold, and have far less gravity than would be comfortable, but they could be made livable in under ground enviroments...

Surface living would be fool-harder with the number of impact craters, low gravity and harsh enviromental factors.

Answer 6

in the foreseeable future, we are bound to stay here on earth. so we better try to protect it from shortage of resources, strike by a large meteor, and mainly from overflow of humans.

Answer 7

Mars is the most likely choice

Answer 8

no planet is having enough water oxyzen,gravity.food,etc.we cant go any where .

Answer 9

mars

Answer 10

to a galaxi far far away