Elon Musk hopes to establish a city of one million people on Mars by 2050, even though no humans have ever landed on the planet. However, the feasibility of space colonization depends on the planet in question, as human colonization of Mars could be possible within decades, according to Serkan Saydam, a professor at the University of New South Wales.
It remains to be seen whether humans will ever be able to colonize worlds beyond the Solar System, as the prospects for such an endeavor remain uncertain. Nevertheless, the possibility of colonizing Mars within the next few decades raises the potential for further space exploration in the not-too-distant future.
First Step in Establishing a Colony on Mars
Mining engineer Saydam believes that by 2050 humans will establish a colony on Mars. However, other scientists have expressed less optimistic opinions about the possibility of colonization by 2050.
Aeronautics engineer Louis Friedman, the co-founder of the nonprofit the Planetary Society, told Gizmodo in 2019 that Mars colonization was unlikely soon. University of Florida neuroscientist Rachel Seidler seconded this opinion, saying that space colonization or putting a human colony on Mars sounded "a bit pie-in-the-sky" even with other people's optimism of achieving it.
As a mining engineer, Saydam said that the first crucial step in colonization will be to extract water from ice and hydrated minerals, which will allow for agriculture and the ability to grow food as demonstrated in a 2014 study. More so, Space.com previously reported that hydrogen from water can be used as an energy source for rocket propellants.
As per Aljazeera's report, China plans to start sending human crews to Mars in 2033. Meanwhile, NASA announced their goals of sending astronauts there in the late 2030s or early 2040s. Once humans reach Mars, the next step could be to build a colony that is self-sufficient to some degree, but not necessarily independent from Earth. Most equipment and tools will still need to be sent from Earth, as it is not feasible to manufacture them on the Mars surface.
For a Mars colony to be financially viable, it must produce something in the long term. Space mining on nearby asteroids for valuable materials, such as platinum, could create new space economies and drive further investment and exploration. Space tourism is also a potential option. Saydam believes that mineral extraction is key to the success of a Martian colony.
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Colonizing Other Planets
Mars may be the most realistic option for human space colonization, but it is not an accommodating planet due to its harsh atmosphere, extremely cold temperatures, lengthy travel time from Earth, and harmful radiation, Live Science reported.
Exoplanets, on the other hand, may offer more hospitable living conditions; but they are much farther away and current spacecraft technology makes colonization seem impossible. The only spacecraft to reach interstellar are Voyager 1 and 2, which took 35 years and 41 years, respectively.
However, black hole astrophysicist Frédéric Marin believes that travel times to exoplanets could plummet soon as humans learn to travel faster and faster in space with each passing century. Marin believes that it is possible to reach a hospitable exoplanet within 500 years.
But a journey that long would require a spaceship piloted by multiple generations of humans, which raises ethical questions and uncertainties about how humans would cope with spending their entire lives on a spaceship and how their offspring would handle being born into interstellar travel life. Additionally, human extinction due to challenges on Earth, such as climate change, may prevent humans from colonizing exoplanets.
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