"It is hard to imagine a future for humanity in which we do not eventually explore and even colonise other planets and moons in the solar system", Michael Hanlon.
In the study of the unknown, everything is questionable. Every belief has to be rejected in order to establish truths (the Descartes method)1. As Newtons' Unviersal Gravitational Law is not valid in a dynamic world and Keplers Laws of motion are dubious at the least, it is necessary to ascertain the vaidity of planetery sightings. Till then, we can assume that the pretty pictures of nine planets rotating about the sun, were nothing much more than enthusiasts thouhgts, 'theories'. All we do know is that planes can hover stationery at certain heights. There's been news of small workstations in space, but nothing of size, that made terraforming irrational. We need to consider the gigantic cruise ships on present day seas, to be able to imagine the size of spaceships required. Terraforming is possible for asteroids/planets (if any are found), and full size ships. The first things that have to be considered are air, food, water, the disposal of waste and producion of power.
Air has a certain weight and is affected by gravity. The air closer to Earth is affected more than at a certain height, hence the density of the atmosphere decreases with height. The possiblity of an atmosphere of vacum is theoretically possible, however it is more likely that there will be lighter gases present. The theory of the carbon cycle states that plants breathe carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Hydrogen, being the lightest element known, probably exists in space, combined with oxygen, creates water according to the equation H2 + O --> H20. Introducing plants into the system seems to solve all the problems of life in space. It provides air to breate, water to drink, solid nutrients to eat and absorbs the waste products we excrete.
After coming to the conclusion that it is possible to sustain life in space, it is necessary to understand that the Earths' ecosystem consists of the force of gravity. Athough the concept of gravity is barely understood, there is a force that pulls everything towards the Earths' centre, and there is day and night, i.e. if the sun does not revolve around the Earth, the Earth must be rotating around the sun. The body may be revolving around the Earth as the moon or escape Earths Gravitational pull, obviously we are assuming that the sun and moon are not simple light bulbs hovering at a distance. Whether it be a planet such as Mars or an artificial mass such as MIR, or a spcae shuttle, the problems of an absent gravitational force or the presence of a greater force is faced by all.
Newtons Law of 'Every force has an equal and opposite force' can be applied to walking in space. As there is an absence of a ground floor on which to excert a force to walk forward, the ability to freely conduct daily activities is not present. The use of a large magnet could power a gravitational force for space ships. Magnetic boots could hold people down to the base of the ships or the magnet could increase or decrease the gravitational force of another planet. As the gravitational forces could be different to that of Earths', the atmosphere would most likely be different to that of Earths. It might be too cold or too hot. The elements present in the atmosphere might not be healthy for our system. The creation of a glasshouse with an artificial atmosphere might be feasible. However in order to power an artificial atmosphere with optimum temperature, a source of energy is essential. This is possible through mining on the planet.
Time might have to be changed. It is unknown how day and night will occur on another planet. Our system of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, might not be applicable for other planetary systems. There might be 24 hours of sunlight or complete darkness as is evident for the South Pole extremeties. It might be necessary to entertain the idea that a 'sleeper' might be necessary for the alertness of a good sleep could do wonders. It might be plausible that one of our oxygen producing plants might be able to provide that. We know that time is different in various cities around the world. The time outside of Earth would be dependent on the relative speeds of the craft/planetary system, relative to Earth, the moon or the sun, dependent on how far we wish to travel, whether or not we are going to be stationary and to which system we are going to locked into.
Over the period of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, the West European countries conquered the world by means of military power. It was obviously wrong for the explorers to kill and enslave the majority of the world, however without the means to have a common dialect, it would not have been possible to converse and establish the trading contracts that have built up the globalised world we live in today. With the mission of exploring and conquering space, we have to be realistic and acknowledge the remote chance of a foreign species, if not a whole world of new species, new to the human eye, coming across our path. The new species might be new plants and trees or ants and beetles. We may even encounter another human species, just as the Europeans encountered the Africans, Indians and Chinese. The new species might be more advanced than us or more primitive. We might end up being conquered and enslaved, dependent on our new masters, or we might end up sending aid to our new extra-terrestrial friends. The worst scenario possible we must consider, is the possibility of a new species with languages beyond our comprehension and with weapons that could annihilate our known world. With this scenario, it might be advisable to load our shuttle with defence weaponry.
Assuming that our star trek does not turn into a star wars epic, we can start planning our space colonisation mission. Our major problem will involve the choice of fuel and propulsion mechanisms required for the travel required. We might require three means of crafts for the landing at Mars. We might need an orbiter to be stationed as a fuel point and for satellite communications. We already have a few decades of orbiting vehicles, but to station and position accurately the orbiters on another planetary system might be tedious. Different configurations for the crafts will be necessary for the take off from Earth, travel through space and then landing on Mars. While landing on Earth, we have the luxury of a smooth and hard surface at airports and spaceports. On Mars, we are uncertain about the terrain. We might have to hover for a while, close to the ground to find a suitable landing site. This system/craft would have to have Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capabilities, whereas the space carrier does not need takeoff and landing capabilities at all. It could be built to an extra large carrier size solely to transport fuel and crafts to and from Mars, docking at the orbiters.
When the crafts are built and the orbiter has been positioned in Mars' orbit, hopefully we will have a bit more information about the planetary motion of Mars, the terrain and the weather. Our first few landings will be purely to collect data via scientific experiments. We need samples of the air and some of the Martian soil for scientists on Earth to investigate concurrently. It will essential to have some idea of the Gravitational force of Mars which will help the scientists at home to design the structures for the Martian gravity. We need soil samples from various locations and depths around Mars to give us some indication on the possibility of farming and mining of Martian soil. We might even find oil on Mars to bring back to Earth. Assuming our first landings are successful without any sign of war mongers or faulty designs of the crafts, we can start building structures on Mars. A glass house would be suitable in order to replicate the greenhouse effect. Our goal will be to send hundreds of Astronauts to build a colony using resources from Earth. Specialized duties of flying crafts will not be sufficient for our Astronauts. General knowledge on building, plumbing, electrics and mechanics will be required in order to build a safe structure to house the astro travellers.
Considering that it takes up to a year to build an average house in developed nations using the skills of several tradesmen and power tools, in order to build a structure to comfortably house a few astronauts could take decades in training alone. As it is not feasible to sent a builder, carpenter, electrician, plumber and mechanic up to Mars on different days as the need arises, the astronauts have to be trained in various duties. The greenhouse has to be highly pressurized and electronically stable, tasks that involve a considerable degree of complexity. Assuming that it is possible to find capable men for the job, the tools for the job have to be sent to Mars also. Mini cranes, excavater, powered hand tools, robotic arms, all with some sort of power supply, have to be considered. All this construction would have to be undertaken wearing special powered space suits with a short supply of oxygen. The shortage of oxygen will be a major problem, as the space crafts will only have a small supply of oxygen. Before the planting of trees for oxygen, there wil have to be multiple cruise ships, simply for the task of keeping up the supply of oxygen for breathing and possibly for fuel.
Even if considering a short trip for refuelling the orbital crafts, we unfortunately have to consider ways of dealing with human excretes. The ships have to have advanced toilets designed specifically for the absence of gravity. Suction ducts as in present airplanes, seems to be a reasonable solution, how the problems of washing still presents a dilemma. Three course gourmet meals might not be feasible. Vacuum packed frozen foods might be the only solution for temporary nutrients. Nutrient supplementation, 'popping' pills of high energy value might be the best way as it would be lighter than carrying (disease carrying) rump steaks on board, and a cleaner way of eating. There might even be ways of using pharmacology to control the bodys' waste to excretes of liquids only. Cleansing of the body might not be possible with high pressurised water and soap. We cannot afford to waste water in space and the absence of gravity would also cause problems. Alcohol swabs might solve this problem. A vacuum cleaner and the swabs could also serve to clean the whole interior of the ship to maintain cleanliness. As with the planning of every town, human waste has to be considered as well. Hence the first job of planning our living structure would be to consider digging a big hole to rid ourselves of our rubbish.
Scientific Evidence proves that it is possible to build a structure like the moon that could be built in space. If this was possible, there would be several security issues. Conditions in Asia and Africa are so devastating, people are hopping on boats and entering rich countries like Australia. Similarly if there was news about immigration to 'heaven', there would be wars just to get in. Ironically people would die to go heaven.
1. Stangroom, J., Garvey, J., "The Great Philosophers", Arcturus Publishing, U.
