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+** i'm in the 12th grade and the question is to research the environmental
+conditions on each of the planets in the solar system other than earth.
+ and to evaluate each planet as a potential place for human colonization
+ and to identify what challenges would be faced, and how they could be
+ met?**
+----
+Hello,
+You've asked for much more information than I could type in a reasonable
+amount of time, so I hope you don't mind if I point you toward a good
+resource and give you some ideas to think about. The web site I am
+thinking of is a guide to the solar system by Students for the Exploration
+and Development of Space. Their web site is:
+http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html
+This page has links to most objects in the solar system, and contains a
+lot of information about each one.
+Here are some ideas to think about when reading each page and considering
+how humans could live there:
+) Air and Water - people need oxygen to breathe and water to drink and
+grow food. Taking water and oxygen from the Earth is very expensive and
+very difficult, so it would be easiest to colonize places where sources of
+water and /or oxygen are easy to find. (Note that if there is lots of
+water, oxygen can be made from the water. Also, if there is carbon
+dioxide, oxygen can be made.)
+) Food - people will need to grow their own food on another planet -
+transportation to and from Earth is, again, too expensive. Plants need
+carbon dioxide and sunlight (real sunlight is best; artificial lighting
+will work, too.)
+) Energy - human settlements will need to create their own energy. Close
+to the sun (say, within the asteroid belt), solar power is useable.
+Outside of the asteroid belt, nuclear power would most likely have to be
+used. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of power.
+) Radiation - radiation is harmful for people, plants and animals. On
+Earth, we are protected by a magnetic field and an atmosphere. Some
+planets and moons have neither; some have only one or the other. Very few
+have both. Some planets have very strong magnetic fields that create even
+more radiation. Settlements will have to be protected to some degree.
+) Gravity - planets or moons with a lesser gravitational pull than the
+Earth will result in astronauts having smaller bone and muscle mass, a
+serious problem if they are to come back to Earth. The closer a planet's
+gravity is to Earth, the less of a problem this is.
+) Atmosphere - Some planets have no atmosphere. Some have atmospheres
+that will crush people. Generally, it's easier to deal with low-pressure
+rather than high-pressure, but both are dangerous if there is an air leak.
+) Distance - the further a planet is from Earth, the harder it is to get
+to and to talk to!
+) Temperature - Is the planet/moon too hot, too cold, or just right? The
+hotter or colder a planet is, the more energy it will take to change the
+temperature.
+) Miscellaneous - Some moons have active volcanoes that cover the entire
+moon with boiling lava regularly. Some planets have no ground. And there
+is psychology - how will people deal with living isolated on an alien rock
+for long periods of time? Etc.
+There is a lot to think about, so you may want to focus in on certain of
+the above topics. All in all, Mars is probably the best choice for
+long-term human settlement. It may even be possible to change Mars'
+atmosphere to resemble the Earth! The moon is the most logical first
+step, because it is very close. Venus might seem like a good choice, but
+it is really a very bad choice. It is very hot, has a crushing
+atmosphere, and may be covered with molton lead.
+There is another web site you might find useful:
+http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/mars/index.html
+This is a NASA web page that talks about exploring Mars and other planets.
+Good luck, and thanks for writing!
+Sincerely,
+Kurtis Williams

what_are_some_major_challenges_of_human_space_exploration.txt · Last modified: 2009/02/02 13:18 by czars · [Old revisions]