Two years ago,
Elon Musk revealed SpaceX’s plans to colonise Mars; first, SpaceX plans to send
two cargo ships to Mars in 2022, and then if successful, SpaceX will land two
more cargo ships and two crewed ships in 2024. Now, there are less than 3 years
left before this plan occurs and I, like many other physicists, doubt Musk’s
plans.
Since 2017, new research has shown
that Mars is indeed not the planet we should be focusing on – for example, the
issue of radiation. The planet does not offer any natural protection against
the galactic cosmic rays – high energy protons which originate from the sun,
outside the solar system and even other distant galaxies. Mars has a very thin
atmosphere and no magnetosphere which is a huge issue for our species.
Amanda Hendrix, a physicist and a senior scientist with the Planetary Science Institute, stated that “humans with the intention of spending any long period of time on Mars will probably have to live underground, or in some sort of device that will shield them from the rays.” Now, if Mars is, indeed, a waste of money, where else can we invest our research, time and funding into? From my own research, the following are possible alternatives.
Amanda Hendrix, a physicist and a senior scientist with the Planetary Science Institute, stated that “humans with the intention of spending any long period of time on Mars will probably have to live underground, or in some sort of device that will shield them from the rays.” Now, if Mars is, indeed, a waste of money, where else can we invest our research, time and funding into? From my own research, the following are possible alternatives.
Venus
Our sister planet is often
disregarded for its potential to be habitable for our species due to being the
hottest planet in our solar system. However, Venus is an easier and cheaper
alternative to Mars as the trip from Earth to Venus can be 30% to 50% shorter
than a round trip to Mars. Unlike Mars’ very thin atmosphere, Venus’ atmosphere
is quite thick, meaning much more protection against meteors and the cosmic
rays. And most important of all, Venus has gravity, saving us from losing bone
mass, while Mars does not – and we have not reached the advancements in science
where we could even suggest ways of creating gravity artificially.
Now even after reading this you may ask, what about the incredibly hot temperature on Venus’ surface – how can we live on a planet where the temperature is over 450 degrees Celsius?
The answer to this question is indeed – cloud cities. NASA has hypothesised the concept of the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) which would give us a lower temperature which is habitable for our species, whilst still having all the benefits.
Now even after reading this you may ask, what about the incredibly hot temperature on Venus’ surface – how can we live on a planet where the temperature is over 450 degrees Celsius?
The answer to this question is indeed – cloud cities. NASA has hypothesised the concept of the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) which would give us a lower temperature which is habitable for our species, whilst still having all the benefits.
Titan
The last alternative is Saturn’s
largest moon – Titan. Unlike Mars, Titan has its own natural shielding due to
the thick atmosphere, and the properties that make the planet much better for
humans due to being an icy moon where water is present and oxygen can be
obtained quite easily. Amanda Hendrix believes Elon Musk should be looking into
Titan instead of Mars, stating “somebody like Elon Musk who has got the
resources with the ability to work on Titan should focus on Titan instead of
Mars” and she is quite right – Titan is a much easier and safer alternative
than Mars – we would not have to devise a way to protect ourselves from the
cosmic rays and the meteors, or worry about trying to find water. Now one might
ask; isn’t Titan farthest away in comparison to Mars and Venus?
Despite being farthest away, it is still one of the more promising alternatives than Mars. NASA has recently started working on a ‘dragonfly spacecraft’ which could prepare us for starting a colony there and becoming a multi-planetary species and this would be done much more easily than Mars or Venus – the temperature of Titan would allow the spacecraft to last much longer than the other spacecrafts which travelled to Venus and only lasted up to a couple hours.
Despite being farthest away, it is still one of the more promising alternatives than Mars. NASA has recently started working on a ‘dragonfly spacecraft’ which could prepare us for starting a colony there and becoming a multi-planetary species and this would be done much more easily than Mars or Venus – the temperature of Titan would allow the spacecraft to last much longer than the other spacecrafts which travelled to Venus and only lasted up to a couple hours.
Regardless of
which planet we go to, we will certainly see a colony in our lifetimes as all
the plans have been made to occur within the next decade – the prospect of our
species becoming multi-planetary is imminent.
