Which object other then Moon & Mars will be the first to have a 50,000 population?

Question

Which object other then Earth, Moon, Mars or space ships will be the first to have a 50,000 population on it?

Since Moon, Mars and space ships are obvious candidates, which one will follow after that?

Don't forget hazardous things like very high radiation on some moons.

Someone suggested the moons of Venus as an option. But aren't those to close to the sun? (Too much heat and radiation?)

Answer 1

My guess would be either Titan or Ceres. You should read the excellent book: "Entering Space" by Dr Robert Zubrin, PhD. It will greatly enlighten you on the future of mankind.

Answer 2

Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars.

Astroid mining is likely, but those are pretty likely to be no more than a few hundred people. A thousand, maybe. Since there would be no way to terraform an astroid to make it sustainable for a population, supplies would need to be brought in and 50,000 people is too many.

Jupiter is pretty far out there. It's moons are pretty goodcanidates for terriformation. Europa's already got an oxygen rich atmosphere, but Ganymede might be harder because of all the volcanic and geological disturbances that result from Jupiter's tremendous gravitational exertion.

Answer 3

The moons of mars or of venus will be the first to have a 50,000 population

Answer 4

Titan (one of the moons of Saturn)...

The hydrocarbons in its atmosphere could mean Big Money!

EDIT: Just thought of something...

IF you would consider the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) as a single entity (consisting of thousands of asteroids), then THAT would be first - think of the mining opportunities (actually, several writers like Asimov, etc. HAVE)! Once Again: Big Money!

Answer 5

It will probally be settlements in the asteriod belt and Mars' moons due to the economic rewards of mining asteriods. It is also close enough to the sun to benefit from solor power.