Research on Space Colonization
	In order to survive as a race we need to become a multi-solar system species for when the sun eventually dies out, but before expanding out into the stars beyond what we already know we need to learn to take care of the planet we already have. With earth as our spaceship we can travel with our solar system for thousands of years still before the sun will even pose a threat to our existence, but if we don’t take care of our planet then we’ll never learn more than to run away from the problems we create as we destroy the planets and each other; once we’ve learned to solve our problems then we can colonize nearby planets and advance our technology to allow for more efficient transportation without burning up all of our resources, and protect ourselves against asteroids and other threats to give us plenty of time to achieve these goals.
	“Space colonization is currently a largely theoretical topic and refers to the future establishment of permanent off-Earth human settlements” (Greene). We live on one planet currently, Earth; and that planet isn’t going to last us forever at this rate, and even if we don’t destroy it first the sun, a stray asteroid or Gamma ray explosion could wipe all of us out at once, and luckily it doesn’t take a genius to figure this out.  It should be easy enough to follow along as this will be kept simplified as much as possible, and it is clear to see that both the human drive for exploration and our finite resources alone make it worth to branch out to other planets, not even considering the fact it could save us from being wiped out as easily. So you may be thinking what is it then we should do, where do we start and in what order would be the best way to go about assuring survival, cost-effectiveness and even how politics or culture might work among the stars.
	“The reality is that our planet Earth is a perfect spaceship and may be our final front-line. “ (Williams). To really begin this process of thinking we should consider our own planet  Earth, first and where it might lay in the grand scheme of things and what it really means to us. Earth has been our home since the beginning of mankind themselves and to leave our home planet behind in pursuit of the stars would be foolish, and dangerous; especially since not everyone could afford nor could the world itself afford the resources to launch everyone off the planet at once realistically with our current technology. So what should we do then? “In our current state as a one-planet species, one stray asteroid, one nearby gamma ray burst, one large scale industrial accident, one explosive super volcano, or one stray genetic mutation not to mention climate change, and all the cataclysmic risks we don't know about could send us to the edge of extinction.” (Dastagiri M.B.). We should learn to keep our planet’s ecosystem in balance and maintain better care of it, work on solving our differences at least to the point where the planet isn’t endanger of being destroyed by our own hands, and use the technology we do have to work towards an anti-asteroid defense system globally, that will at least protect us from one of three very real possibilities of extinction; only then would it be safe to consider moving to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Better management of resources, green energy and devoting time and research into better methods into space will help this effort; one might think Earth has nothing to do with space colonization, but it is essentially a giant spacecraft already built to house us as it travels through the solar system with the sun, and from here we can launch our colonies into space on other planets as Earth might eventually one day become the ‘capital’ of our multi-planetary species; while we should look to the stars for our future we should also look for resolutions here at the same time, and not forget our origins. “It would be wise and prudent for us as a species to focus our intellectual and technological knowledge into preserving our spaceship for the long voyage ahead so that, once we have figured out how to make life on Earth work in an environmentally and politically sustainable way, we can then venture off the planet into the new frontier of our dreams.” (Williams)
	Naturally while on the subject of our planet, defenses and economics lets discuss some of the possible ways to do this. Finding ways to redirect such as “landing on it and firing a small rocket engine to change its course--would cost about $2 billion, the price of a single bomber.” (Foster); as for  energy its possible we could use large concave mirrors in orbit to gather sunlight for power, and ways  for easier transportation with spacecraft is already being researched by companies like SpaceX . Another way that’s being looked into to cut on costs is 3D printers, NASA has even suggested at one point that it may be possible to get a giant 3D printer into orbit and print spaceships, and without the presence of gravity its possible for a printer to print something several times larger than itself, and since it would already be in space that cuts down on fuel and would require less human effort; “The path to a human colony could be prepared by robotic systems. These systems locate resources, such as ground water or ice that would help a colony grow and thrive. The ultimate viability of all this really comes down to economics” (Dastagiri M.B.) and with this same idea of 3D printers there is another company that is attempting to send robots to the moon with printers to attempt to lay down the foundations for a moon base where they’ll have solar panels to collect energy and potentially beam them down to earth, if successful this will only be the first of many steps and stages towards the colonization of the moon. With our technology as it is we have the capability to set up a broadband network to communicate inter-planetary with only a slight delay; we already communicate globally at near instant speeds, and while ambitious and somewhat out of the box its definitely possible that these ideas will work, and even more will come after them in pursuit of lunar colonization.
	While it is a largely theoretical topic right now, Space Colonization is a very real possibility at the same time and something we must strive for in the next thousand or so years , now let’s look at why the moon would be our next logical step in colonization for several purposes. One major purpose is as a launching pad for other planets like Mars eventually once we get to a point where that’s more viable as technology advances; how would this effect international security and politics if this happened however? The laws for space are getting ‘mature’ and growing as it becomes a possibility instead of a dream and as long as its kept in check and not one nation gets a monopoly on any sort of space travel, than that should be sufficient for colonizing the moon as long as no weapons are allowed to be built in Earth’s orbit. Colonizing the moon would also have the benefit of increasing scientific understanding, and economic gains from settling the moon first and foremost; “The Project Constellation, projected the costs to be near $100 billion. Sending robots to build a lunar colony, however, is a much more affordable proposition. Teams of robots could dig the lunar surface and build a permanent human habitat there for a fraction of the cost of a human construction crew.” (Pelton). As mentioned above lower-cost robotic missions can easily remedy the cost of human labor and not be nearly as dangerous, and while at first we may not be able to terra-form a whole planet we could at least set up lunar outposts that are livable where several profitable tasks could be employed with communications . All around it’s very viable with simply digging down into the Moon to build a colony would provide significant radiation protection, and most of the materials could be located right from the moon to start off in comparison to building an Off-Earth site just floating in space, and is much, much closer than Mars.
	Speaking of Mars; “The environment we will face is far harsher than that of Antarctica People will have to live underground to avoid radiation,” (Foster), meaning exposure to this radiation would vastly decrease lifespans, but there is ways around this that we can take similar to the idea of digging down into the ground like on the Moon. However, until Mars is terra-formed colonists will have to suffice by living in habitats of some sort where they make their own oxygen and realistically eat freeze-dried foods until farming is set up somehow or livestock is raised. Again robots can help immensely with starting out the colony at least and doing outside habitat work; and while Mars is only about a third of the size of Earth, because of its lack of oceans it has an equivalent landmass meaning we can house much more people. “Here we must ditch the old concept of crew selection and the comically diabolical tests of chisel-chinned space heroes depicted in The Right Stuff. Space colonists will be ordinary families and communities who will not be on a mission but who are intending to live out their lifetimes. “ (Smith). We shouldn’t be expecting the space colonies to be government or military funded, but just as when the pilgrims first came to America, the people who do go to these colonies will be families or communities to go live out their lives on these planets in the future; of course  we could expect to see cultural changes as numerous effects from living like this could take place, not that it is a bad thing; and as it is right now “The "Outer Space Treaty" states that no nation is allowed to put an offensive weapon of mass destruction in Earth orbit or on the Moon.” (Foster). Along with this treaty it is mentioned that no nation can own land on the Moon, Mars or anywhere in space currently on its own (though this treaty may not apply to private enterprises.). In short we could use the Moon as a launching pad to get to Mars and start another colony on the Red Planet, but this is years down the road and the treaty would have to be changed along with even more precautions being taken given Mar’s distance and colder atmosphere; biological changes will most likely be expected but able to be endured with proper caution.
	Worthy of being discussed is the idea of what would happen generationally on other planets like the Moon and Mars? “Infectious disease -- to which small, dense populations such as space colonies are particularly vulnerable -- will return as a significant concern, imposing new selection pressures as well.” (Smith), Selection pressures referring to what was discussed earlier with selecting colonists to go out onto these trips (assumedly after the robots have constructed a habitat of some sort.); and while infectious disease and degenerative diseases from the same DNA being passed down generationally through such a small population could easily wipe them out or become a problem; this is exactly why we should focus on the planet Earth to keep it and ourselves healthy so when we do expand out into the stars we will be more resilient to diseases through scientific advances through medicine, which will allow a colony to have more people and therefore cut back on both issues; radiation is solved through terra-forming, habitats and anti-radiation suits of some kind. On a deeper level the cultural change would also be significant, especially on Mars with being so far away as the lower gravity “Could influence body language, an important element of human communication” (Smith). With them living so far away as well it could be expected for them to develop their own way of life as genetic changes settle in within a more confined population, making the process all the quicker. While this might sound like a drawback and negative, it’s not fatal and with us learning how to take care of Earth we could easily devote the time and attention required to neutralize any of these threats to what might otherwise be a thriving colony; in the end it is about sustainability as we try to survive, and the more people there are the more resources and land we’ll need, so it is only a logical step forward.
	“Astrobiology, the study of life in the universe, offers profound insights into human sustainability.” (Baum). Often overlooked or not considered in Space Colonization is the field of Astrobiology as Baum states here, with several key points to point out sustainability such as Environmental Determinism (The idea that human societies are determined by environments instead of human activity or intiative.), The Fermi Paradox (States that when civilizations become intelligent they end up destroying themselves, which is based off of the fact no other civilizations or species have been viewed amongst the stars.), and finally Physical Eschatology which is the study of end times; which could be the end of universe, the world, or just humanity. Overall “Astrobiology informs us that life can only be sustained in habitable zones” (Baum); giving us a few explanations as to why we haven’t observed any other extraterrestrial civilization, and confirming that Earth will indeed not be inhabitable forever, but we can prolong that and buy us more time buy taking care of our planet, and studying Astrobiology to learn more about further steps we might need to take as it provides much insight into thinks we might normally overlook.
	So in the end here one might be thinking as they read that the costs here severely outweigh the benefits, but consider for a moment that a fair amount of issues will vanish over time as our technology excels, and that what we need to do as a race in a whole is to take care of our planet first and foremost and then worry about expanding; Space Colonization is a reality that is bound to happen sooner than later unless we face extinction first, but it’s basically a no-brainer with the points here having been thoroughly discussed as they appeared so that in the end we might all be unified and come together to sustain and survive as a whole as we experiment and grow together in this vast universe.
	So now just to recap all that we’ve talked about here, we discussed the Earth and why we need to defend it not only from outside threats but from ourselves and to preserve it for a lesson to us on how to take care of other planets, but also how abandoning it would be not only arrogant but also horribly inefficient. Following that was space-travel, cost-effectiveness and colonizing the Moon and Mars with whatever that may entail and theories on how to overcome the obstacles presented to us resource-wise, economically, time-wise, and for our own survivability and sustainability as we consider all that might come along with having a small population; diseases, genetics and culture included. Astriobiology reminds us that we only have a limited amount of time and in the grand scheme of things are on essentially a giant rock for a spaceship through the cosmos, where eventually we’ll learn to migrate to other planets or be wiped out as we discussed all of the possibilities and pros versus the cons along the way in hopes that we might find a way to lawfully, morally expand while taking care of our environment and the universe around us with respect.
	So in the end, we can expect to see people colonizing the Moon and Mars soon within the next few hundred years successfully in some manner or another; even if it’s not a personal plan to go into the stars it is at least important to learn about the topic and decide if it’s something we want to do as a species together with all the effort it will entail; as for me my vote is yes. Not just out of passion for the universe and all the mysteries it holds but so that generations beyond might have a chance of survival, since if we only think of ourselves in the now instead of the future then eventually we shall run out of time until it’s too late, only because none of stopped to think and look ahead even for just a moment. Luckily we won’t make that mistake as several programs like NASA and SpaceX look to the stars in hopes of preserving humanity, and I can only hope for the same that reading this will move us towards a greater understanding of what must be done in such high stakes with how fragile our lives can be as it is. Eventually it might even be our grandkids launching off into space to move to a different planet, perhaps even us joining them as our technology advances beyond the limits of what we have now. While we’re on this Earth we shouldn’t be consumed by any blind race to the stars or another war to break out over who gets to populate where, and with all of this knowledge at our disposal it’s safe to say if the time comes we should be able to make a unified decision. “ Advancing beyond the Solar System might become possible in the distant future, creating the possibility of eventually relocating human life to an Earth-like exoplanet.” (Greene). And why should we stop just at our solar system? Eventually with the sun dying out too that would become a fruitless endeavor, so when we talk of Space Colonization it isn’t just the immediate nearby planets; short-term yes, but in the grand scheme of things we’re looking to expand out into multiple solar systems so we can thrive, set up communications between each other and be able to explore like we never have before. As we do this, our finite resources on Earth will seem less and less of a possibility of ruining our way of life as we know it or dooming us if we’re able to pull ourselves together to the heavens. Eventually one day we might have spaceships trading between different planets, not only global communication through internet and phone but across planets. It isn’t a matter of conquering space to rule over everything, but to survive and sustain ourselves with the untapped resources. With everything having been said and discussed thoroughly, we can look forward to a brighter future where we work together in harmony to preserve ourselves and our planet.