Something which has interested me for awhile is Mars, especially Mars in 10 years. According to Elon Musk, SpaceX will have taken people into Mars's orbit by 2025. A thought which was unimaginable 10 years ago, but a reality. But how will we able to inhabit Mars, is it possible?
How To Inhabit Mars
To inhabit Mars will not be a piece of cake, quite the opposite. However, a few vital components already exist on Mars. One thing which we need to survive is water which exists on Mars in frozen form. Mars's soil is actually 60 % frozen water. This a huge step in the right direction. The water will provide drinking water and for plants which are the second difficulty.
Food is essential for human survival and therefore a key component as well if we are going to inhabit Mars. However, to grow food on Mars is a hard task with the surrounding environment Mars provides. With an atmosphere 100 times worst than Earth gene modification has to happen. In the beginning though, greenhouses can be built.
The next step would be to make Mars, Earth 2.0. Terraforming Mars is a couple of "years" away. Nonetheless, the procedure will take place in Mars's orbit with a solar sail gazing on the poles of Mars, heating up the carbon dioxide. This will eventually transform into a atmosphere which will be resistant against radiation. However, to oxidize Mars if far fetched and this will most likely never occur.
Nice post. Oxidization will become a challenging task. Never say never 😉
The problem with Mars isn't the lack of atmosphere or liquid water. Its the magnetic field. Its hundreds of times weaker than Earths and its the main factor of sustaining life. Even if we make the atmosphere like Earths its just gonna get blown away by the solar wind. Thats what happened in the past with Mars.
A proper colonisation program would need a coordinated effort of all big nations. At the moment that seems very unlikely. Who is supposed to finance this? The USA? Russia, China, Europe? They are all on the brink of bancruptcy, and all try to shoot each other down.
And for a privat company its a too big venture, in my opinion. Its not just about bringing a first group of people there. This needs to be a long term project, with continous regular missions.
I really hope this will happen--exploration is what's kept humanity going. But there are huge challenges, and I don't know if we as a species will get it together enough to overcome them.
There are some difficulties, but humans have to make this step. IMO the most important thing in XXI century.