• Question: Do you think we will ever inhabit another planet and what year do you think that will happen?

    Asked by Ayrton to Ed, Kerrianne, Nina, Oli, yoyehudi on 4 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by 326nepk48.
    • Photo: Yo Yehudi

      Yo Yehudi answered on 4 Nov 2017:

      I really hope so! I love the idea that all the creatures and plants on earth could be spread out amongst the solar system. The most likely prospect I’m aware of is probably SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/mars they have a mission to Mars with human crew planned for around 2024. That’s not all that far away!

    • Photo: Kerrianne Harrington

      Kerrianne Harrington answered on 5 Nov 2017:

      I think we will, but because space travel is such a massive, collaborative endeavour, it gets slowed down by politics and budget limitations. To be able to inhabit another planet, we need much more manned missions to other planets first. Mars seems to the most likely candidate, and at the moment we just have a curious robot there! We’ll need lots of new technologies to achieve inhabiting another planet, and lots more explorations like NASA’s Curiosity rover (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/overview/index.html) and the European Space Agency’s ExoMars programme (http://exploration.esa.int/mars/46048-programme-overview/).

      Yo is right that SpaceX has generated a lot of interest and excitement, and is definitely worth checking out!

      My opinion is that it will definitely happen, it’s just a matter of when. I hope SpaceX meets their goal of 2024, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a lot latter in time.

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