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atitarev

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2003-05-16

Posts: 203

Re: Colonisation and terraforming order

I thought I'd post this in Terraforming Venus thread but it's probably worth a new thread.

Venus is very attractive because of its size and likeness to Earth but Venus may not 3rd or 4th, which people will actually try to colonise and terraform.

IMHO, both Luna and Mars will always be the 1st priority for settlement, followed by Callisto and Ganymede, not by Venus. Settling on Jovian moons seems less costly despite the distance. Even Titan and other Saturnian natural satellites - I mean Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus.

In my opinion, sooner or later larger planetary bodies from Mercury to Saturn will be settled.
Candidates: Mercury, Venus, Luna, Mars, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, Titan, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus.

What do you think realistically would happen (not what you wish to happen) and in which order?

1. Luna and Mars - always in parallel, even if you're in love with Mars, you will agree, our Moon is not ignored and won't in the future.
2. What's next? Mercury and Venus seem very hard.
Perhaps, the next objects for colonisation will become Callisto and/or Ganymede. Perhaps followed by Europa.
3. I am not so sure but I think it's not Venus or Mercury again. I see some terraforming efforts on Titan followed by any of Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus.
4. Mercury or Venus.

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Sorry for long breaks. Terraforming still excites me but I don't see much happening in this direction (frustrating!) and I haven't gained any new knowledge since the time I posted more intensively.

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Anatoli Titarev

Terraformer

Member

From: Ceres

Registered: 2007-08-27

Posts: 3,821

Website

Re: Colonisation and terraforming order

Ceres. With all the cash I'll have when I'm older backing it it will happen.

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"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." - If this forum was a Mars Colony

karov

Member

From: Bulgaria

Registered: 2004-06-03

Posts: 953

Re: Colonisation and terraforming order

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/new … ts_prt.htm

karov

Member

From: Bulgaria

Registered: 2004-06-03

Posts: 953

Re: Colonisation and terraforming order

P.S. - what is for "planets" = the same for all "planemos" - moons, rogue, etc. EVERYTHING is a game of orbits, insolation, escape velocity and Forst lines. Frost lines for metals, for silicates and aluminas, for carbon / carbides, ... water, amonia, ... The planetary formation is nothing than condensation / accretion and/or collapse.

karov

Member

From: Bulgaria

Registered: 2004-06-03

Posts: 953

Re: Colonisation and terraforming order

P.P.S.: And the "spectrum" continues smoothly through the substellar "grey" and "Brown" dwarfs` zone into the realm of the stars / fusors.

I wonder how the Kuchner`s spectrum intersects with the Nordley`s Rule of the Surface gravities of the astronomical bodies grouping into "classes" of surface gees of order of about 2.5 ... ( or about the natural logarithm base ).

Reminder:
1 - Jupiter - ~2.5exp1 gees
2 - Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus - ~2.5exp0 gees
3 - Mars, Mercury - ~ 2.5exp(-1) gees
4 - Luna, Io, Ganymede, Calisto, Titan... - ~ 2.5(-2)
5 - Pluto, Triton ...                                   ~ 2.5(-3)
6 - Sedna, Oberon, Titania, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Hygeia ~ 2.5(-4) gees = ~3% gees
7 - Miranda, Proteus, ...                            ~ 2.5(-5) gees = ~1% gee

For colonization what matters is the gees. For terraforming too -- we many times commented here that actually even the smallest round gravitationaly shaped worlds are teraformable using electromagnetic and / or membrane techs for atmosphere retention...