Maddie Ware final report by QMC

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

Colonization of Outer Space Offers

Opportunities and Poses Challenges to Human Survival.

1 By Maddie Ware September 2015

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

Introduction I was curious about colonisation of outer space and how it offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival. I set out to discover what technology already exists to enable life to survive on another planet. I wanted to know what it was like, (form), How it works, (function), how technology can be developed, (change) and who get to benefit from technology (responsibility). What technology is already made? My investigation began with a conversation on skype with Naomi Altman, an expert engineer from a New Zealand rocket development company called Rocket Lab. She explained that humans now have the technology to transport technological equipment, food and people to space. However, the cost is huge, 19,000 dollars per kilo to be exact. So for this reason, only important items like supplies for the International Space Stations and satellites are sent into space. I discovered that we can already grow some food off earth. Certain foods can be grown in space for various reasons. In space, lettuces can be grown because of special solar powered greenhouses in space. Hydroponics is another way of growing plants except without any soil. This is done by putting nutrients in water and growing the plants in it. In space there are also water and air systems for planting and for surviving indoors without space suits. I found out that scientists have the technology to extract water from the dirt and soil on Mars and they can also recover water from most places.

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

3D printers are also very useful in space for making spare rocket parts and for printing many other things like cutlery. People have also designed 3D printers that print metal, and print cooked, edible food, not just plastic. What technology we still need We need a new way of transporting large or small amounts of people and goods such as food into space in a cost effective way. At the moment our technology is fossil fuel based, which means it is expensive to send anything into space (plus it is not good for the environment). Scientists are trying to develop of powering space travel such as nuclear fusion. Potential space travellers need a new type of rocket power to go faster and cheaper. At the moment it costs $19,000 per kilo to take something into space, and going to Mars would cost even more. Humans need a rocket that is: sustainable, costs less, safe and re-‐usable. There is another problem about the time it takes to travel though space to habitable planets. Until humans can travel faster than the speed of light, it will be difficult to colonise other planets because they are so far away. For example, Kepler 22B is 600 light years away and in our current space shuttle it would take 23.4 million years to reach it! So we need new ways of travelling through space or else astronauts will be too old or even dead by the time they arrive.

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

Terraforming is when astronauts plant trees and do things like that to change the atmosphere to one that is suitable for humans and animals. Experts say that in theory this might be possible but no-‐one has tried it yet. Being able to use terraforming technology would be an advantage, because then we wouldn’t need spacesuits. How long until will be able to colonise other planets? Some experts think that most of the technology that is needed will probably be ready in about 100 years. It could possibly be faster but at the moment people aren't doing enough research and experimenting to have all of the technology needed ready sooner. What group of people are most likely to experience life on another planet? It would be my grandchildren or my great grandchildren because the technology won't be ready in time for me to go there. The lucky people who get to experience life on another planet will almost definitely be only the people who are chosen by NASA or work for a space business like NASA. The people who NASA choose will need to be people who are fit and healthy, people who will be essential like doctors, scientists and so on. Mars One is the first step in an experiment to establish a colony on another planet. They are looking for people to go to mars on a one-‐way trip. Even though it is a one-‐way trip, a cramped boring and dangerous 7 month trip, more than 200,000 people have signed up to try to go to Mars. Out of these people, only 635 people have made it through the 2nd cut.

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

Conclusion In conclusion, living in space is already possible on the International Space Station, but making the move to another planet is a much more difficult thing for humans to do. Some of the technology is here already, but there is still a lot more we need to do. At the rate we are going now, if takes 100 years before we can colonise other planets, we might have used up all the resources on Earth before we can actually move to Mars. If this happens, we won’t be able to make enough technology and other things we need to make the move to Mars. It is okay to use Earth's resources then hop on to Mars if we save enough of them to move to Mars in my opinion. It is not very responsible of us to keep using up all of our resources and then not having enough to move and save the rest of mankind from things that we can’t stop like global warming. A solution to this problem would be to start to re-‐use what we have here on Earth and look after the planet we have got today. I believe that we should start to take recycling seriously, and start to look at what we are doing to our environment. We need to consider that Earth’s resources are limited and unless we act to preserve resources, our survival on the planet is at risk. Who really knows what the future will bring in terms of life on Earth and other planets. However, we know that life on Mars is at least possible but it is probable? Bibliography https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1438&bih=64 6&q=Mars+colonisation&oq=Mars+colonisation&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l4.4332.10568 .0.11682.17.15.0.0.0.0.825.2632.3-‐ 1j2j1j1.5.0.ccynfh...0...1.1.64.img..12.5.2628.jlwbuorzwGU Rocket Lab's Naomi Altman (expert rocket engineer)

Madeline Ware – Colonization of outer space offers opportunities and poses challenges to human survival

http://www.gizmoindex.com/nasa-‐lists-‐the-‐martian-‐tech-‐that-‐already-‐exists-‐ 1714179 http://www.gizmoindex.com/nasa-‐lists-‐the-‐martian-‐tech-‐that-‐already-‐exists-‐ 1714179 http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/10163149/On-‐a-‐one-‐way-‐mission-‐to-‐Mars http://www.mars-‐one.com/ Green A.(2007)New Views of the Solar System China: Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8CpnKBnPC0 http://www.nasa.gov/ http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-‐4/home/F_Living_in_Space.html