Colonizing the Solar System

Venus has been called the sister planet to earth because of its similar size, but that is where the similarity ends. There have been many failures with probes sent there, because they get crushed by the heavy atmosphere. The atmosphere of Venus is composed of carbon dioxide with tiny amounts of nitrogen and water vapor. It is also much hotter than earth’s atmosphere and the combination of pressure and heat make it most unlikely we will ever try and colonize this planet unless we find a way to make the atmosphere more like earth’s. The temperature at the surface is 872 degrees Fahrenheit and the pressure on the surface is about the same as being 3,000 feet under the ocean on earth. The clouds in the atmosphere are made of sulfuric acid making it even more difficult to be on the surface. The upper layer of the atmosphere has super circulation and circles the planet every 4 earth days. There are some people who believe the planet may be hollow and scientists have seen light coming out of what may be holes in the surface. If this turns out to be the case, perhaps it might be possible to inhabit the hollow inside of the planet.

Mars is the current target of interest for colonization by humans. There are many problems with this idea if we have been told the truth about the planet. First of all, Mars is losing its atmosphere which is already far too thin to support human life. Cosmic rays crash into what is left of the atmosphere sweeping more of it away and radiating the surface of the planet. It was thought there was once water on Mars and there were places where water still exists. Recently scientists have been changing their mind and stating what they first thought was water is only dark sand. A study of the soil has been conducted and it is said it shows the soil is dead and not suitable for growing crops. In order to colonize this planet taking into consideration all these things we would need structures which were radiation proof, suits which were also radiation proof, supplies of water brought to the planet and possibly food sent there. There have been suggestions made we could terraform the planet into a more earth like one by introducing an atmosphere, but would it hold, maybe not.

The rest of the planets look like hopeless places for colonization. Jupiter and Saturn are nothing more than giant gas balls. It is though they might have a small rocky core. The next two planets are Uranus and Neptune and both these planets are giant ice planets. Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and has the third largest diameter of all the planets in the solar system after Jupiter and Saturn. It has a unique tilt. Uranus is four times wider than the earth. The tilt causes the sun to shine directly over each pole and this means the other half of the planet is in darkness for its 21-year long winter. NASA states Uranus doesn’t have a true surface, just swirling liquids. The atmosphere has extreme pressures and temperatures which would destroy a spacecraft. It is mostly hydrogen and helium with a little methane, water and ammonia. The minimum temperature in the atmosphere is 224.2 degrees Celsius. We can forget about colonizing this planet.

Neptune is also an ice giant. It is the fourth largest planet in our solar system and the third most massive. This makes it the densest giant planet. If we compare it to the earth it is 17 times the earth’s mass. The planet’s atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium and has traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen and has ices made of water, ammonia and methane. There are violent storms on Neptune which create objects similar to the red spot on Jupiter which is a raging storm far bigger than the earth. Winds travel the fastest on this planet and reach 1,300 miles per hour. The atmosphere is one of the coldest places in the solar system and some of this has to do with the fact it is so far from the sun. The surface is far too violent for colonization.

There is hope however for colonization, because of the hundreds of moons which exist in our solar system. I won’t go into any one individually, but I will say some seem to be places which we could utilize with some technological help. The biggest problem with the moons might be the absence of an earth like atmosphere. We might even find some which have atmospheres which ward off radiation. We also have to take into account asteroids and other bodies which might be suitable for bases. There was one asteroid which some believe showed signs of a base already. While most people don’t agree with this assessment, the idea of a base on an asteroid may not be completely out of the question. It looks like there are places where we can spread out into the solar system on.