• Question: If the human race was suppose to go and live in a different planet, which planet in this solar system would you recommend and why?

    Asked by julia to Heather, Helen, Hugh, Jane, Julian on 12 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      I think Mars is the best long term, but its quite a distance to travel, it takes around 9 months to get there.
      The moon is another option, just a couple of days away, so would be easier to get people and supplies to.

      After that, options are more limited, maybe asteroids, or the moons of Jupiter, but there is much less sunlight out there to power things.

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      I think Mars, the Moon and Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons) are the best options, but they’re all far from perfect! We need to be able to cope with the atmosphere (we need oxygen), the different gravity, the extreme temperatures, and we also need food and water. Plus what Julian was saying about it taking a really long time to even get to these places. How would we take all the things that we need to set up a life for ourselves, even if we had the technology?

      The Moon has no atmosphere at all, and Mars’ is about 96% poisonous carbon dioxide. Mars’ gravity is only about 1/3 of that on Earth (fun for bouncing around, but bad for normal bodily function!) and the temperature can drop down to a rather chilly -140 degrees! Maybe not time for a holiday on Mars just yet…

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