Ahh I didn’t realize, I thought it was only exposed solid surface. Does that mean every other solar system body with water doesn’t have separate islands/continents? Because if no, then earth should be depicted as one solid shape without the divisions as well. I get it though, it’s for scale.
Does that mean every other solar system body with water doesn’t have separate islands/continents?
Am I reading this wrong, or were you under the impression liquid water isn’t a special Earth thing (and the defining factor of the habitable zone)? I’d say you’re in the lucky 10,000, but that fact is actually kind of depressing to learn.
Titan is the only other one with known surface liquids of any kind. I suppose Randall Munroe could have given it’s lakes of natural gas the same treatment.
This is part of the reason why some people are skeptical of human space travel; all the other real estate out there is pretty bad, and looking at this map I realise it’s not even that much, really. You basically have barren rocks like the moon, bottomless atmospheres like the gas giants and Venus, and then Titan.
Oh yeah, seriously Mars is a really bad choice of an exoplanet to colonize, so small the gravity difference will kill you if none of the other horrible things about it.
Venus is actually the most reasonable and likely to be habitable but you know… We have to figure out the whole “stop it from melting us” thing and the constant volcano action aint helping.
We will probably colonize space on asteroids with slave labor before anywhere else in this solar system.
Not the moon? It’s right there, so it’s my pick for airless rock to live on. Mars has slightly more gravity, I suppose. It’s not at all known how much you need to be healthy, except more than none.
With Venus, the most promising option would be living in a air-filled balloon in the upper atmosphere. The pressure and temperature in the right layer is not only tolerable but beautiful, and since it’s a mainly CO2 atmosphere such a thing would naturally float. You’d probably have to figure out ways to remotely retrieve things from the surface if you wanted it to be self-sustaining, though.
Assuming the gravity is okay enough, Titan is promising. For long term habitation we’d probably need nuclear fusion to power things, since solar isn’t an option and fission fuel might be scarce, but all the organic elements are there in abundance, and cold is relatively easy to overcome.
The moon is a good staging area for rocket launches because of the low gravity but the moon wars will be rough on it i bet and its not like there is a glut of material we can strip from them unlike asteroids and if we destroy it we are gonna be really messed up as a planet.
Plus low gravity is almost worse than no gravity really. We cant spin the moon around faster but we can strap some asteroids together and make some weird stations with lots of metals that are right there. Low gravity of the moon and Mars actually will likely cause so many clots that you end up blind within 7 years and dead shortly after and we cant easily mimic or add more gravity.
Venus and jupiter both strike me as floating habitation if we ever get there but the moons of jupiter are fantastic and also 5 and a half years of flying away. So not gonna be a super useful base unless we figure out a different means of travel.
Im still a big fan of Europa and finding out if we do have an alien competition in this solar system.
The moon is a good staging area for rocket launches
Yes, they might actually be able to pay for things from Earth with domestic industry servicing things further out. Nowhere else has an economic “pull” for humans beyond novelty.
Low gravity of the moon and Mars actually will likely cause so many clots that you end up blind within 7 years and dead shortly after and we cant easily mimic or add more gravity.
Source? What I’ve seen makes it sound like a true medical mystery, at least until we have more data.
We cant spin the moon around faster
You could put a rotating band with a bit of inwards tilt along the ground, which would achieve something similar.
Space stations are also an option; I guess I really should include them. The disadvantage relative to barren rocks is that they have a certain maximum size given what materials are locally available; there’s no expanding out over centuries like we’re used to on Earth, and you definitely need artificial gravity. You also might need to import a significant amount of volatiles like hydrogen, if it’s a near-Earth asteroid. The advantage is the sheer variety of places to put them, and easy access to zero gravity when actually desirable.
I don’t know about floating on Jupiter. Nothing really floats in hydrogen, it’s extremely cold, and the gravity would be multiple Gs. Venus has pretty much the same gravity as here, as well as the layer of room temperature and pressure gas.
Im still a big fan of Europa and finding out if we do have an alien competition in this solar system.
Don’t forget robots are an option, if we just want knowledge or to mine various rare-on-Earth substances.
In the long run, interstellar travel seems possible, although we’d have to be very patient.
Imagine excluding land underneath puddles
Ahh I didn’t realize, I thought it was only exposed solid surface. Does that mean every other solar system body with water doesn’t have separate islands/continents? Because if no, then earth should be depicted as one solid shape without the divisions as well. I get it though, it’s for scale.
Am I reading this wrong, or were you under the impression liquid water isn’t a special Earth thing (and the defining factor of the habitable zone)? I’d say you’re in the lucky 10,000, but that fact is actually kind of depressing to learn.
Titan is the only other one with known surface liquids of any kind. I suppose Randall Munroe could have given it’s lakes of natural gas the same treatment.
Yeah I overestimated a teeny tiny bit the number of places in the solar system that have liquid water on the actual surface. My bad.
No problem!
This is part of the reason why some people are skeptical of human space travel; all the other real estate out there is pretty bad, and looking at this map I realise it’s not even that much, really. You basically have barren rocks like the moon, bottomless atmospheres like the gas giants and Venus, and then Titan.
Oh yeah, seriously Mars is a really bad choice of an exoplanet to colonize, so small the gravity difference will kill you if none of the other horrible things about it.
Venus is actually the most reasonable and likely to be habitable but you know… We have to figure out the whole “stop it from melting us” thing and the constant volcano action aint helping.
We will probably colonize space on asteroids with slave labor before anywhere else in this solar system.
Not the moon? It’s right there, so it’s my pick for airless rock to live on. Mars has slightly more gravity, I suppose. It’s not at all known how much you need to be healthy, except more than none.
With Venus, the most promising option would be living in a air-filled balloon in the upper atmosphere. The pressure and temperature in the right layer is not only tolerable but beautiful, and since it’s a mainly CO2 atmosphere such a thing would naturally float. You’d probably have to figure out ways to remotely retrieve things from the surface if you wanted it to be self-sustaining, though.
Assuming the gravity is okay enough, Titan is promising. For long term habitation we’d probably need nuclear fusion to power things, since solar isn’t an option and fission fuel might be scarce, but all the organic elements are there in abundance, and cold is relatively easy to overcome.
The moon is a good staging area for rocket launches because of the low gravity but the moon wars will be rough on it i bet and its not like there is a glut of material we can strip from them unlike asteroids and if we destroy it we are gonna be really messed up as a planet.
Plus low gravity is almost worse than no gravity really. We cant spin the moon around faster but we can strap some asteroids together and make some weird stations with lots of metals that are right there. Low gravity of the moon and Mars actually will likely cause so many clots that you end up blind within 7 years and dead shortly after and we cant easily mimic or add more gravity.
Venus and jupiter both strike me as floating habitation if we ever get there but the moons of jupiter are fantastic and also 5 and a half years of flying away. So not gonna be a super useful base unless we figure out a different means of travel.
Im still a big fan of Europa and finding out if we do have an alien competition in this solar system.
Yes, they might actually be able to pay for things from Earth with domestic industry servicing things further out. Nowhere else has an economic “pull” for humans beyond novelty.
Source? What I’ve seen makes it sound like a true medical mystery, at least until we have more data.
You could put a rotating band with a bit of inwards tilt along the ground, which would achieve something similar.
Space stations are also an option; I guess I really should include them. The disadvantage relative to barren rocks is that they have a certain maximum size given what materials are locally available; there’s no expanding out over centuries like we’re used to on Earth, and you definitely need artificial gravity. You also might need to import a significant amount of volatiles like hydrogen, if it’s a near-Earth asteroid. The advantage is the sheer variety of places to put them, and easy access to zero gravity when actually desirable.
I don’t know about floating on Jupiter. Nothing really floats in hydrogen, it’s extremely cold, and the gravity would be multiple Gs. Venus has pretty much the same gravity as here, as well as the layer of room temperature and pressure gas.
Don’t forget robots are an option, if we just want knowledge or to mine various rare-on-Earth substances.
In the long run, interstellar travel seems possible, although we’d have to be very patient.
You were within one order of magnitude, don’t fret!
What is the lucky 10,000?
Also aren’t there other moons of that gas giants that have liquids like liquid methane(?) where people speculate there could be types of life?
You’re part of today’s lucky 10,000 learning about the lucky 10,000!
Nope, it’s just Titan. There’s other moons that have liquid water oceans deep under their frozen crust, which might be what you’re thinking of.