Science Forums 2

[BlameTheEx]

There are a number of problems.

Lets assume Mars as the choice for colonisation

1) Escaping the earths surface.

Only an electromagnetic cannon will boost that sort of total tonnage into space cheaply enough. Think of one 100's of kilometres long if you want you colonists to arrive in any sort of shape. Otherwise the acceleration would be too high.

2) Transfer to mars.

Solar powered ion drive. This is the easy bit.

3) Land on mars.

That was easy. You just drop. Too bad it was with a bit of a hard landing, but parachutes don't work that well with so little atmosphere.

Ok we got there. Now how do we make a living? No air, no food, and lots of hard radiation. Oh, its bloody cold too. It would be a high tech life. Living in underground bomb shelters to avoid the radiation. Operating machines, and digging for raw materials. Hydroponics for food. Your typical martian colonist will probably be agoraphobic and short sighted from living underground. Mars is a post apocalypse world, and yet it is still the best option after earth.

Of course there is the hope of teraforming mars within a few thousand years, but long before that the colonists will have adapted to being troglodytes and won't want to.