What problems are arising in potential human exploration and colonization of other planets?

Question

thank you zerobyte for taking your time to answer my question. You expanded my knowledge and made me more aware of space topics.

Answer 1

There are several problems with the ability to explore and colonize other planets.

At the current technology levels, it is incredibly expensive to put astronauts/explorers into space. This means there are relatively few agencies who could afford this project.

Second with current technology, any trip outside of the earth would take weeks (the moon) or months (18 month trip to mars), or much longer depending on where you go. Again, the longer you travel, the more expensive it is to build the ships.

And the more time spend in space, the harder it is to return to earth. Anyone going to mars, will probably have to work very hard to maintain bone mass, muscle mass to return to earth. If we colonize the moon, or mars, the people from either colony will most likely NEVER leave their colony because their bodies will adapt to lower gravity.

another interesting idea comes from Robert Heinleins The moon is a harsh mistress. Anyone country who colonizes the moon, can dominate the earth. (the idea is the moon is on top of a gravity well. anything from the moon eventually will hit the earth. So if someone were to launch something (say a boulder) the size of a City Bus, it would strike the earth with the power of a nuclear weapon and could destroy cities.) So it would be possible for any moon colony (especially if it was self sufficient) to exert military forces over the earth.

Another issue is who gets to go? As the human population on the earth grows, the pressure becomes tighter. Now imagine a colony on Mars with 200 people. they build their own habitats, carve them out of the rock. Or the same on the Moon... they get to grow their own food in hydroponics, while the population of the earth skyrockets, and synthetic foods start to dominate... who gets to go? who choses?

Answer 2

Katy, the major problem for exploring space is Galactic Cosmic Radiation, Solar Particle Events (solar flares) and the Van Allen Belts that encircles the earth and traps high energy particles. Contrary, to what has been spoon-fed to the public, our sciences have not overcome this obstacle. Think about it? Why haven't we been back to the moon? The siphoning of money from the American taxpayer has never stopped this government from implementing its own agenda; The money granted out to wars is a perfect example. The other problem is adequate shielding in our spacecraft; Despite NASA's claims. There are various cosmic radiations the astronauts have to contend with over a period in time in space. That is why all organic life-forms must circle in Low Earth Orbits (LEO) below the Van Allan belts. Some of our astronauts have experienced light flashes when their respective orbits were to high or when there's increased solar flaring. The solar radiation was penetrating the hull's, eyes and brains of the astronauts. To alleviate the radiation attack the astronauts had to decrease their orbits so that the earth's atmosphere could further protect them. We are not going nowhere fast and NASA knows it

Answer 3

I think in the end because everything is reduced to money and our inability to all get along, it will be very difficult and will take a very long time to do any exploration. The moon will be revisited in the future to get ready for Mars in this century. We have the technology but it is a cost thing. If we were a planet of people instead of disagreeing nations it would be more do-able. The best thing to happen to space exploration is the civilian privatization movement, finally!

Answer 4

The main issues faced in long term space flight, would certainly be health. The human body is not well suited to long term weightless conditions. The next issue to address would certainly be that of fuel, The amounts needed for deep space exploration are phenomenal to say the least.

Answer 5

Probably our number one problem is public support. Everyone's too lazy, selfish, and ADHD to think space travel is important. "What's in it for me?? / Gee, that sure is boring - a bunch of rocks, whoop-tee-doo!" Yet, here we are on the Internet, using all sorts of technology from the space and military programs, enjoying a higher standard of living thanks to it.

The corollary to this problem is money. Going to another planet is technically within our grasp right this very moment. It's just VERY expensive. Now, when it comes to spending tax dollars on this, see part A of my answer. ;) Corporations aren't going to shoulder the burden unless they can answer part A, too - so that's why we don't have Lockheed Martin just sending people to Mars for the P.R. factor.

Now that human behavioral reasons are accounted for, here are some of the technical challenges. :)

Propulsion technology is one of the biggest problems we face. It's not that our engines can't get us there; it's that they take so MUCH fuel to do it, and even then, only lifting not much weight compared to how much we'd need to take with us.

Since our propulsion isn't as good as it could be, the next problem is the time it takes to get to other planets. It takes anywhere from 3 to 9 months to get to Mars based on when you launch, how fast you plan to go, how much weight you're carrying (which affects how fast), etc. Longer time means more supplies needed, means more fuel or slower trip, which means more supplies, etc....

Water is probably the biggest problem for any long-term space trip. Mars is a nice target because there's water ice already there. Astronauts could use that ice to get drinking water, so we wouldn't have to lug it all there ourselves, which would make DRASTIC savings on the fuel bill. (see problem A)

The fact that you have to take everything you could ever possibly conceivably need is pretty challenging, too. If you forget your toothbrush on that trip to Vegas, the hotel lobby is sure to have one. If you forget it going to Mars, then that's just too bad. Imagine forgetting a tool to fix some crittical spacecraft / habitat component!!!

Finally, most of the environments out there in our solar system aren't very easily habitated. Most of the planets out there are gas giants, so we can't even land on those. They have lots of moons, yes, but most of those are low-gravity, and cryogenically cold (it rains liquid methane on Titan, Saturn's largest moon).

Jupiter's larger moons are closer, and some even have water ice, but they're bombarded by Jupiter's radiation belts, or are extremely volcanic (Io is even more active than Earth).

Mercury is extreme because it goes from hundreds of degrees in the day to hundreds below at night. VERY stressful on any materials you'd make a station out of.

Venus is probably the least hospitable of any rock out there! Even the probes designed for the job only last a few hours before melting down, or imploding under the huge pressures of the heavy Venus atmosphere. [I read that floating cities in the clouds might work some day since our breathable air would be bouyant on Venus, but I think that technology is far from being reliable enough to go there right now - no cloud city for us!]

All in all, space travel is a VERY daunting challenge, and I just wish we had the propulsion technology to go further than our own solar system - but that's another story entirely! I hope they make it to Mars within my lifetime. This would become mankind's greatest acheivement EVER. (in my opinion)

Answer 6

I dont think there is any -ve effect if u explore any thing but if u consider the project cost it has its own drawbacks

Answer 7

The distance.

Answer 8

Reevers.