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: Kharpal ]. But before humans venture to distant worlds, they'll most likely be starting with a colony on the moon. In the next section, we'll look at what might be needed to live there. Advertisement
Contents
Lunar Living
Successful Settlement of Mars
Establishing Colonies Beyond Mars
Heading for a Planet in Another Star System
Lunar Living
This artist's concept shows a human landing system and its crew on the lunar surface with Earth near the horizon. NASA
Ever since the Apollo program put the moon within our reach, establishing a lunar outpost has seemed a logical next step. Earth's natural satellite offers several advantages over more distant destinations, such as Mars or Saturn's moon Titan. First, it's relatively close, which means crews could get back and forth from the Earth and moon in just a few days. Additionally, a lunar base would enable use to learn a lot about the effects of low gravity, isolation, high doses of cosmic radiation, and disrupted circadian rhythms on human space colonists — knowledge that would be invaluable when we eventually venture to other worlds [source: Fecht ]. Additionally, the moon's low gravity and closeness to Earth would make it an ideal location for a spaceport from which astronauts could embark on missions to Mars and worlds even further away.