The idea of humans colonising parts of the solar system and even beyond into the galaxy is not new, particularly as far as science fiction writers are concerned. Most of the great space rocket pioneers (particularly Tsiovlksky and Oberth) discussed the possibilities in great depth.

Humanity has been experiencing an exponential rate of growth recently and if this continues we shall have to move and space offers the best possibilities in terms of expansion space, resources and development potential.
There are several reasons why we would like to move into space:

• There would generally be a higher standard of living and comfort for everyone with custom living options available. If you like lakes then go to a colony with many lakes if you like your climate regulated go to a colony that carefully monitors climate (provides great sunsets etc.).
• Spectacular views of the planet they are orbiting, together with incredible views of the stars as there would be no atmosphere or pollution blocking the sights at observation points.
• Agriculture will be greatly improved with controlled conditions, all your favourite foods would be available all year round and they would be of the highest quality.
• Zero/low-g recreation - for example sports, swimming, dancing will all be enhanced.
• To save the environment, there is little doubt that the human race is seriously damaging the Earth's environment, if we could greatly reduce the numbers here, we would greatly reduce the damage and it may be easier to set up various environmental repair programs.
• The survival of humanity may only be preserved if we are not all in one place. There are many potential disasters that face the human race, both man made and naturally occurring. Should the whole of one colony be wiped out, humanity will survive by living in multiple colonies.
• Money, there is a vast amount of potential to earn money in space, with resources, industry and commerce (tourism) all likely to become high-earners.
• Those with differing social and cultural attitudes could, if they choose, separate themselves from others much more easily and with much less tension, by simply having their own colony. This could potentially avoid wars that seem, unfortunately, to be unavoidable here on Earth.
• There may be industrial colonies and more environmentally friendly colonies, you may choose if you want the air pollution or not!

It is important to remember that it will not be like living in grey metal boxes. Ok early projects may be like this but these will be testing systems. The future will be choice, if you want a house, apartment etc you can have it, if want a garden no problem, there will be lakes, fields, forests and mountains if we choose. There will be many varieties of animal and plant life and, in large colonies at least, there will be blue skys, wispy clouds or whatever climate we want. It is likely to be all the good and none of the bad from Earth.

Many ideas for the development of space colonies are being explored here on the Earth first. Ideas such as the Freedom Ship Project and the First Millennial Foundation are intriguing ideas and something for anyone interested in the space settlements should keep an eye on.
The initial developments of space settlement will be orbital research outposts followed closely by orbital hotels and business parks together with small orbital settlements for the workers. Clearly the initial stages will be in Earth's orbit to allow easy transportation and communications, plus easy escape if anything goes wrong.

An Orbiting Colony	A Colony Base
Courtesy NASA	Courtesy NASA

There is a great deal of debate about whether more advanced technology will mean that we remain in space colonies or lead us to establish independent bases on the surface of other planets, moons and asteroids.
The main advantages of space colonies will be to avoid the problems of incompatible conditions, for example the gravity of other bodies will be much different to Earth's gravity, as will the temperatures, length of days etc. Also other celestial bodies will have atmospheres that block solar energy, perhaps have corrosive elements in the atmosphere and strong winds that will create structural problems etc.
On the other side of the argument there could be many resources that surface bases could take advantage of, also atmospheres could shield the land colonies from the dangerous radiation that exists in space.

A downside to orbiting space colonies will be that they have to provide artificial gravity by rotation. This means that people will stand on the interior with their feet pointing out, this could be difficult to get used to at first, although it is certain that we would be able to adapt and in large structures it would be far less noticeable.

Lunar Base

Courtesy SSI

All settlements will have to be airtight and be able to hold breathable atmospheres and all oxygen, water, wastes and other materials must be recycled with as close to 100% efficiency as is possible. They will also have to use large amounts of shielding to protect the colony from radiation, using soil and rock at first, although several studies have shown that electromagnetic shielding will provide future protection. It should be noted that bases will probably require less shielding (depending on the density of the atmosphere).

Given the arguments on both sides it is likely that mainly space colonies will be used for settlement, while small outposts will be placed on the surface of planets to mine and transport useful resources to the space colonies.
There is the argument of terrforming the planets to provide excellent environments for humans as opposed to closed bases, we shall look at terraforming in the next section.

External and Internal view of a Cylindrical Colonies

External and Internal view of a Bernal Sphere All 4 Images Courtesy NASA

The most famous work so far was done by Dr Gerald O'Neill, his concept was a 30 km cyclinder, with a radius of 3 km (although a separate study showed that nanotechnology could provide construction materials to sustantially increase this). The landmasses will be covered with soil with much plant and animal life together with houses similar to those found on Earth. There are stripes between the landmasses of windows that allow in the sunlight and that can be deflected by mirrors to provide light throughout the colony. The cylinder would rotate once every 2 minutes providing artificial gravity at surface level equal to that of Earth, at this level pressure will also be equal, though both will be much lower at the central axis. There will be a varying weather system with clouds forming at about 500 meters. Calculations show that 6 million people can comfortably live in this colony, together with agricultural land and industry placed in smaller cylinders outside the main cyclinder. Transportation systems will be placed underground, leaving room for parks and recreational facilities within the colony. Ingeniously it is also suggested that the endcaps will have lower gravity so could be the ideal place for the elderly or sick, together with providing interesting low-g recreation.

Problems

The major problems are the cost of materials and getting them into space and the construction time. If we have space colonies, space elevators and nanotechnology by this point then things will be much easier. Even without some of these advances solutions can be found by bring materials in from the Moon or asteroids. Improvements in solar power systems will see us being able to use the vast, inexpensive supply of energy that the Sun puts out into the solar system every second.

Finally the issue of transportantion, but only from a cost point of view, but also from an enviromental point of view, many tens of thousands of launches, perhaps millions in the long term, will do much damage. Space elevators are the best solution, but failing that the routine use of spaceplanes will greatly improve the situation.

Go on to Terraforming
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