Key Points
Theres Mars, which is one of our closest planetary neighbours, and is somewhat Earth-like, though much colder (with temperatures reaching lows of -153 degrees Celsius) and with a very thin atmosphere..
Powering a colony on another planet would be another matter, given that power would be required for every aspect of life, from artificial gravity (gravity on Mars is about 38% that on Earth), air and water, to communication, temperature control and food production and preservation..
A 2021 study by scientists at the University of Bremen, Germany, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, showed that cyanobacteria could potentially be grown in a low-pressure, toxic environment such as that of Mars, and could also help neutralise toxic compounds found in Martian soil..
A key effect of lags and breaks in communication, experiments conducted here on Earth have found, is that the isolated space travellers become more cohesive and collaborative as a group but more autonomous in their decision-making, and less communicative with ground control..
And a 2018 NASA-sponsored study by scientists from the University of Boulder showed that, even if we could source all the carbon-dioxide needed, it would take 10 million years for Marss atmosphere to just double. ..
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