this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
26 points (90.6% liked)

Ask Science

8586 readers
14 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.


Community Rules


Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.


Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.


Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.


Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.


Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.


Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.


Rule 7: Report violations.Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.


Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.


Rule 9: Source required for answers.Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.


By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Define "have". Know about? In our own solar system?

And under what conditions? Like, walking around on the surface? Living in some kind of underground chamber?

There's nothing in our solar system where you can just hop out and roam around on the surface like you would on Earth and survive. The atmosphere alone doesn't make it doable.

But there are attempts to find planets outside the solar system that might be habitable:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_potentially_habitable_exoplanets

Problem is that interstellar travel takes a lot of doing. The furthest a human has gone as of 2024 is just beyond the Moon. We haven't even gone to another planet in our solar system. And traveling to even the closest star system is a lot further away.

The Moon is about 1.3 light seconds away.

We get within about 3 light-minutes of Mars at its closest approach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars

Alpha Centauri, our closest neighboring star system, is about 4.2 light-years away.

So traveling to planets in other solar systems isn't something that's probably going to happen in the immediate future. Even if one of these possibilities ultimately does turn out to be habitable, it's not within our near-term reach. We can see, but we cannot easily touch.

We can create a habitable base on the Moon or Mars. But it'd only be habitable conditions inside the base itself.

Terraforming Mars or Venus might be possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Venus