Space colonization
Space colonization[a] is the idea of humans living outside of Earth permanently.[1] At present, there are no space colonies. However, many people have put forward ideas and thought about the first space colony. Some national space programs see space colonization as a long-term goal.[2]
Building colonies in space would require access to water, food, space, people, building materials, energy, transportation, communications, life support, simulated gravity, radiation protection and money. Launching things from Earth is expensive, so it is better if the materials come from the place of the colony.
Possible sites for space colonies include the Moon, Mars, asteroids and big, free-floating space stations. Resources, such as solar energy and water, are available from or on the Moon, Mars, near-Earth asteroids or other planetary bodies. People could use them to build the space colony and live there.
Mars is the most Earth-like planet known, so the colonization of Mars may be first. Some celestial bodies might be terraformed. This means changing a body's atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to the biosphere of Earth, so that humans can live there.[3][4]
Space Colonization Media
Photo of the first national flag assembled by a human on the Moon (Apollo 11, 1969). With colonization of space having been a critically discussed issue since the dawn of the space age, resulting in the Outer Space Treaty (1967), the flag was not to symbolize any territorial claims.
Gemini 5 mission badge (1965) connecting spaceflight to colonial endeavours
The logo and name of the Lunar Gateway references the St. Louis Gateway Arch, which some see as associating Mars with the American frontier and the manifest destiny mentality of American settler colonialism.
A computer-generated image from 2005 showing the distribution of mostly space debris in geocentric orbit with two areas of concentration: geostationary orbit and low Earth orbit.
Through the Commercial LEO Destinations program, the Axiom Station can gradually establish commercial uses and become economically sustainable.
Artist's rendering of an envisioned lunar mining facility
A contour plot of the gravitational potential of the Moon and Earth, showing the five Earth–Moon Lagrange points
SpaceX has long considered settling and colonizing Mars as its prime objective.
An artist's conception of a terraformed Mercury
Notes
- ↑ Also called interstellar colonisation, space settlement, space humanization, space habitation and extraterrestrial colonization.
References
- ↑ "Chapter 1: The Colonization of Space". NASA. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
- ↑ "NASA's Griffin: 'Humans Will Colonize the Solar System'". The Washington Post. 2005-09-25. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
- ↑ "The Terraformation of Worlds" (PDF). Nexial Quest. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
- ↑ "terraform". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-08-10.