Possibility Of Multiplanetary Existence - [Would Human Evolution Support Extraterrestrial Colonization?]

Introduction

People have been chanting "humans would achieve multiplanetary status" here and there, but how possible would this ever be? Okay, the truth is; by virtue of our evolutionary complexities, we have shown dominance here on earth, but the question is: Would we; the extant modern humans; evolve to exist somewhere else apart from earth? I'm sure many people have been fantasizing about extraterrestrial colonization, but would this just remain as a wild fantasy, or would it be realizable in the not-so-distant future? We'll take a look at the possibility (maybe; futility) in this.

_{[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]}

Truth is; with the vastness of the universe (or multiverse; as the case may be) - at least, our own galaxy; the milky way is host to billions of stars and some planets too, not to talk about other galaxies and constellations; it would only be myopic to think that the earth is the only astro body that supports human existence. I, for one, have never believed we're alone, but does that count anyway? So what stops us from taking up stellar journeys to one of these extraterrestrial bodies?

Well, the truth is, space travel is not like any other journey here on earth. Take for example; and like we have discussed in this post earlier _{you can follow the link for a baseline info}; space trips have the propensity of damaging the eyesight of astronauts; and more so, they could even go permanently blind - and this has been majorly attributed to the effect of the reduced or microgravity on the distribution of the cerebrospinal fluid, which; instead of finding their route to other parts of the body where they are needed by the force of gravity; gets accumulated in places they are not required, and exert pressure behind the eyeballs, which also alters the shape and structure of the eyeball.

But then, even if scientists finally figure out ways to reduce this effect; just like they are doing with the designing of machines to induce artificial gravity, and also with the pressure-suit technology to counter the effect of microgravity; there are also some factors that should be put into consideration - like: Which stellar body do we call dibs on, and why? I know some would scream "Mars!!" - no doubt, this has been the subject of discourse lately, and even a strong contender for this trip has arisen; which is the teenage girl; Alysa carson _[ref]. But have you considered the travel itself? Like one of the fastest space shuttles; Juno (at the top speed of 165,000Miles/hr _ref), it would still take between 6-8months to arrive your destination. And remember, we're talking about extraterrestrial habitation, and not just a go-and-come kindda journey, but one which a base would be formed. Even though we could decide to change the travel destination to "Moon", there are also points to consider; you'll find out soon.

_{[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain Licensed]}

Haulage to space

For the establishment of the space colony that can support life in space, first of all, you would need to send some materials for the construction from earth to space - and that is where a major challenge lies. Hauling just a pound of stuff from earth to space costs a whopping $10,000 _[ref] - but here, we're talking about tonnes of materials... Mehn, that would be more than the entire budget of my country for 2years, lol. Can I shock you? According to this report, the cost to put the first crew (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Micheal Collins) in space in the year 1969 was around $25billion - extrapolating this to today's present value; this would be over $170billion.

But hey! A booster for the space construction has arisen. Why would you need to haul the materials from earth when you can get what you need up there? This might interest you; but some asteroids are rich in mine-able minerals; like platinum, gold, tungsten, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, etc _[ref] - that is why it was postulated that asteroid mining has the propensity of providing us with the minerals we need to construct whatever we need to establish the ET colony. And the awesome part is; these minerals are majorly embedded in NEO (Near Earth Objects) which would be readily accessible by humans. So by inference - get your materials from space to construct the space colony.

_{[Asteroid Mining. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain Licensed]}

But another truth is; you would still need to take, at least the drilling machines and all whatnot to mine there. So you would still do some haulages to space any way - but not as much as when you're hauling every material you need. And scientists have already moved a step forward in the actualization of this with the launch of some heavily technologically advanced space stations, like; the International Space Station (ISS), and even the Chinese Tiangog Space station (Heavenly Palace). And awesomely enough, these stations have the capacity to support the existence of human life for some few years, and yes!! they are manned. Just imagine them as tiny planets orbiting the big planet earth, lol.

I'm sure you've seen the movie; Elysium, and the practicality of establishing an ET colony that was depicted in the movie.. yeah I know it's sci-fi, but you'd surprised with the way technology is advancing, this sci-fi can be turned to sci-fact. But asides all these technology, wouldn't we just evolve to; maybe; have the ability of existing in a low-gravity stellar body? Remember; evolution is nothing more than structural or adaptative changes that occur within a species in response to environmental changes (majorly). Like people in the noisy environment have been observed to evolve with a kind of hearing ability that allows them to selectively filter off the nasty noise and get tuned to their desired sounds - that's the "selective hearing" ability. That is what evolution can do, and we have not (yet) stopped evolving.

_{[Image Source: Flickr. Author: Acid Pix. CC BY 2.0 Licensed]}

So if is possible to witness all these evolutionary changes, why do you think we can't evolve to get adapted to life on space? Even our eyes could evolve to get adapted to microgravity; thus, solving the problem of astronauts losing their sight in space. So you see, evolution could even provide another option to technology. But again, technology can induce and mutilate the process of evolution. So remotely, technology is still part of the evolutionary parameters. And maybe in the near future, we could finally be able to allow the Mother Earth to rest a while, and we would take our disturbance to somewhere else - space; here we come.

Conclusion

One of man's greatest quests and fantasies has been to move beyond earth, and this process was heralded when man finally achieved the feat of performing the space travel and also the first moon travel. And now, the horizon has been seen to be expanded to the establishment of an extraterrestrial colony, but how would this be possible? Only "time" would give a substantial and definitive answer to this.

Thanks for reading

References for further reading:

• Nasa - Advanced space travel facts
• Asteroid (Near Earth Object) mining
• ET colonization - futurism
• Establishing a moon colony
• Nasa's moon-to-mars overview

All images are CC Licensed and are linked to their sources

Credit: @gtg