Populating another planet really depends on two factors. There has to
be the ability and the will to settle another planet. If we lack either
then it will not happen. in particular, the crunch point is the
ability. Is it physically possible? If it’s not then no amount of
wishing is going to make it happen. What are the challenges we need to
overcome getting to, and settling on, Mars? Shortly after reading
Oliver Morton’s excellent Mapping Mars, I read Robert Zubrin’s The Case for Mars,
as it was mentioned so often by Morton. If you want an overview of the
problems in interplanetary colonisation this is an excellent
introduction. Even if you don’t agree with the conclusions, the
explanation of the problems he tackles is usually eye-opening. My response is long, so this is a summary.
Getting there is not going to be easy. There are severe medical hazards both from cosmic radiation and from the loss of muscle involved in a long flight in zero gravity. He comes up with some solutions, but the travel is not going to be risk free.
Once there colonisation will need a place to settle. There are advantages in settling an uninhabited world. Zubrin argues that the first settlments will be built over geological hotspots. Since writing his book news has come to light of liquid water on Mars, and I argue this ensures that a colony is viable.
There also need to be a reason to go there. Zubrin builds his case on the production of Deuterium, which will become a valuable resource in the future and the accessibilty of minerals. I also argue that recent discoveries make life on Mars a distinct possibility, and the bio-wealth of the planet also could act as a lure to colonists.
I conclude by saying I don't think all his arguments work. He draws analogies with the settling of North America, but many of those settlers were escaping Europe rather than drawn to the New World. But on the whole I think he's right if there is an economic reason to settle the planet it will happen, and I think settlement will become economic in the near future.
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