The Colonization of Mars
The Plan for Human Survival
Class: Astronomy
Table of Contents
I. Introduction...........................4-5
II. Life........................................5-7
III. Mars......................................7-8
IV. Terraforming..........................9-11
V. Transportation.......................11-13
VI. The Plan................................13-23
VII. Conclusion............................24
VIII. Appendix...............................24-25
I: Introduction
Whether it is from eminent destruction by an asteroid impact or the more feasible situations of overpopulation, nuclear fallout, or atmospheric depletion, life some day may not be able to sustain itself on Earth. Mankind has to prepare for a great migration to a new habitat in order to preserve its species. This habitat must be able to sustain life just as Earth did. It will have to filter out harmful radiation from space, produce plentiful sources of food and energy, as well as contain a vast amount of water. It will not necessarily need gravity to sustain all life, but it most likely will have it because of its importance to humans in their daily functions, but more importantly for plant life, which has been found to not grow well without it.
There is no habitat that we know of in our solar system or anywhere else that could sustain life without modification other than Earth. Scientists have been pondering the dilemma of where and how a habitat will be produced some day. There are many ideas that sound feasible, but when they are analyzed with scrutiny, small flaws are found that can jeopardize even the most intricate of plans. By far, the most alluring option is to change the planet Mars into a life-sustaining environment. This is not as simple as it might seam. In order to sustain the human race as well as many other life forms that are necessary to create an ecosystem many things would have to be taken into consideration. The best way to explain this is to first...
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