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I guess if humans were to constantly stick to the cooler side, they could walk around with protection. What is the gravity, pressure and radiation like on Mercury?
Honestly, I think my number 1 and 2 candidates are Mars and Titan. I say Mars because it's quite closer(compared to other planets, bar Venus, but it's impossible to land on Venus).
Titan, is very, very far, but in some respects it'd be easier to get humans on Titan because we wouldn't have to combat major(if any) pressure problems, since Titan's surface pressure is 1.5/1.6 bars, which is the equivalent of the pressure you'd feel at the bottom of a 10ft swimming pool, where as Mars, the pressure is a BIG issue, also, it seems there are some radiation problems with Mars, Titan doesn't seem to have any.
Beyond Mars and Titan, it's hard to say, possibly the dark side of Mercury or perhaps one of the Jovian moons like Callisto which doesn't have the major radiation problems of Europa for instance.
If that time period could be cut down by at least more than half, that would prove to be a more tolerable flight, but even by half, getting to the Saturnian system would still take around 1.5 years. Time is the biggest problem for us, we need more speed.
Also, if it takes 6 months with current technology to get to Mars, how long would it take to get to any of Jupiter's moons where humans could possibly land on, like Callisto for instance or Saturn's moon Titan?
Yeah, it seems that out of any other place in the solar system, Mars and Titan are the most likely candidates for humans to set foot on. I think at THIS point though, it's hard for us to compare Titan and Mars simply because we know so little about Titan, where as we seem to know a whole lot more about Mars. But with the Cassini along with the Huygens probe, we should know just about as much about Titan as we do about Mars now. We haven't even seen the surface of Titan, for all we know it could have solid continents where outposts could be set up. Two big advantages that Titan seems to have(that humans wouldn't have to combat) are radiation and pressure.
If some kind of orbital space stations/observatories/labs were built near planets say like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn or beyond within our solar system(further down the track and the speed of shuttles or space ships increases enough), they could have a section built for recreation, formal and/or casual and the rich could buy tickets to spend a night or few nights up there. Humans by nature are exploratorive species, and while some may not be huge fans of space in terms of learning all the minute details and such, those with enough money will throw it around to get a view that very few other people will ever see in their lifetimes.
So setting up some kind of station or outpost on those moons wouldn't be totally out of the question at some point? and it would perhaps help make manned or unmanned missions to Mars a bit easier?
On the topic of Mars, I've read somewhere where it was suggested to perhaps build a station on one of Mars' moons, Phobos, what's the thought about that moon, what kind of conditions does it have. I can't remember where I read this or who suggested it, but the basic idea was to setup a station on Phobos to learn more about Mars(primarily), but also it's moons, and the station could be used as a stop-over for any manned missions to Mars.
So looking at it, in some ways, it'd be easier to get humans walking around on Titan rather than Mars or Europa?
That sounds like an awesome view indeed. Do you have anymore info on that moon? I wonder if the Cassini will fly-by and do analysis on that moon..
I have a question regarding Titan, apparently the pressure on Titan is the equivalent of the pressure at the base of a 10ft swimming pools(1.5bars i think). I don't know much about pressure at all, but does that mean that pressure shouldn't be a to big a problem on Titan?
Apparently there are some kind of tickets where you can get a trip into space(Earth orbit or something to that degree) for 20 million dollars. Apparently some rich people are buying these tickets to go up into space. I think this is a good thing and a way to get money which can go towards space exploration and the like. There ARE lots of rich people around who have the money to throw around to afford these kinds of trips(and not just once too). Hell, perhaps eventually they might build a space station and include a recreational section where a whole group of people could go up there and have a party(with nice viewable windows to look down at our planet below).
What is the pressure like on Mercury?
Say humans landed on the dark side(at the time), what things would they otherwise need to combat(apart from low temperatures)? Infact, landing on the darkside of Mercury would be tougher than landing on Mars?
Also, does anyone know much about the moons of Uranus or Neptune, are there any interesting ones there that could *possibly* be landing sites for human exploration in the future?
It definately does seem like 2003 was/is the year where some re-newed interest in space exploration has taken place. I think 2004 will be the year where we will be getting some truly tasty stuff, from Mars Express(and hopefully Beagle 2), not to forget Cassini which is due to enter the Saturnian system 01 July 2004, but by end of June it will be passing by Phoebe(Saturn's outer-most moon), then January 2005 will have the Huygens probe landing on Titan's surface, giving us over 1000 images and all kinds of data. I think 2004/2005 will be the year of Saturn exploration for us, but also Mars exploration too if all the probes succeed(along with Mars Express). I think it's safe to say that 2004 will be a big year in terms of space exploration.
Say for instance, the Huygens probe dives down to Titan's surface and finds some kind of evidence of life, microbes or a hydro-bot drills and explores the liquid oceans of Europa and were to find some sort of alien fish swimming around, how do you think the space and science world would react to this and what do you think theyre next steps would be if this scenario were to happen.
Yeah, apparently they are sending something like the equivalent of the Cassini to do analysis of the entire Jovian system(much like what the Cassini will be doing with the Saturnian system). This is great stuff because we'll be learning about the two largest systems within our Solar System and the ones which have the moons of great interest to us. Apparently there are plans to send a Hydro-bot to Europa that will drill through the ice surface and go into the watery ocean below. Who knows, we might discover some sort of weird alien fish there or microbes!
Which other planets within our solar systems, or moons for that fact, can you see humans on at one point in the future, even if it is past our lifetimes. How would you rank your choices?
Of course, there is Mars which seems to come in at number 1, but I've seen some other people mentioning even Mercury(the dark side away from the sun where temperatures are below zero).
This is definately a moon of interest. The Jovian system is a very beautiful and interesting one, in particular the moon Europa.
Apparently the planet is covered in a thick layer of ice, but it is believed that underneath is vast quantities of water. If there is unfrozen H20 under the ice, it must be warmed somehow and it is believed it could be warmed via the gravitational tug the moon experiences with Jupiter. This has got some believing that life could possibly exist in the water under layer of ice.
You can try www.space.com and search "Europa", and you'll find plenty of interesting articles about it.
"A small add-on" eh?
Stu
I think some people maybe say that at this stage to try and neutralize any growing disappointment with the whole Mars Express + Beagle2 mission thus far, with the failure of detecting signals from Beagle2 so far.
I for one am glad that the Mars Express is in successful orbit now, but am still hopeful of signal from the Beagle 2. As it was stated, the best chance of receiving Beagle 2 signals is through the Mars Express, which was specifically also designed to pick up the Beagle 2's signal.
Yes, this is very, very interesting stuff indeed. Apparently some believe that Titan is much like what Earth was billions of years ago, before life spawned here. It is believed that Titan has alot of the ingredients for life to start, but is too far and cold(around -178 degrees Celcius). One day though, when the sun starts expanding into a red giant, who knows, perhaps things may start to stir on Titan. Anyway, alot of the articles at space.com and other places go into depth with that. That whole Saturnian region is a very interesting one and as of June/July 2004 we will begin to learn alot about it. If the Huygens probe succeeds, we will finally be able to see what lies beneath Titan's thick atmosphere and on it's surface.
And yes, that space-art with the thick, orange, mysterious clouds and Saturn rising along the horizon does look incredibly beautiful. In 2005, we'll see whether that's how things look from the surface.