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Asked by itssmeemayaa to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Will on 20 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by amarni98.
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Will Reynolds answered on 20 Jun 2012:
Hi itssmeemayaa! It might be possible in the future yes. The most likely planet would be mars because its very similar to our own, but its cold and the atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide. The best way to produce an oxygen atmosphere would be with plants! If we could build some giant greenhouses they would produce enough oxygen for a small number of people to live inside a ‘mars base’ (or whatever you would like to call it!) and maybe eventually there will be an atmosphere that we can breath outside, who knows! Thanks for your question.
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Sarah Martin answered on 20 Jun 2012:
Hi itssmeemayaa! Yes, it is – and people have already done it on the moon, if only for a short time. But that was already over 40 years ago and science has advanced lots since!
The best way to produce oxygen still is using plants though – or small bacteria that can also photosynthesise – so taking some along would be a good idea. The main problem with living on a different planet though is getting there in a crowded rocket for a year with all the stuff we’d need to take!
The other problems are our exposure to high-energy cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation, which is dangerous and also living in low gravity, which leads to muscle and bone problems long-term, and also eyesight loss. We’d also have no real-time links back to Earth, so no phones, and wouldn’t have a lot of medicine or other useful things with us…Nevertheless, the US government has authorised manned missions to an asteroid in 2025 and to planet Mars by the 2030s!
Will you be going?
🙂 Sarah
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