Title: How Will We Colonize Other Planets? | HowStuffWorks
Headings: How Will We Colonize Other Planets?
How Will We Colonize Other Planets?
Lunar Living
Successful Settlement of Mars
Establishing Colonies Beyond Mars
Heading for a Planet in Another Star System
Citation

Content: Its surface is also peppered constantly by micrometeorites and cosmic rays [source: Redd ]. To survive those hostile environmental conditions, some experts think that colonists will likely have to place their habitats under the lunar soil or at the base of a lava tube [source: Redd ]. Others envision domes built by robots equipped with 3D printers, which would provide protection [source: Gent ]. Then there's the issue of food and water. In 2018, a team of scientists spotted the first definitive evidence of water ice on the lunar surface, a discovery that suggests that future lunar colonists might be able to extract their own supply, which could provide water for drinking and for irrigating plants in lunar greenhouses, as well as a raw material for rocket fuel [sources: NASA, Grush ]. NASA's current plan for returning to the moon involves building a lunar orbital station, the Gateway, which will serve as a staging area for teams of astronauts to make short visits to the lunar surface.