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anotheroutlaw t1_ja8ozfw wrote

How many generations of work and technological advancement in physics, engineering, biology, chemistry, materials science, medicine, etc. do you think it would take to colonize Callisto? Off the top of my head I would say 500 generations.

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ObligatoryOption t1_ja8rdug wrote

> 500 generations

10,000 years? I think you err far to the pessimistic side.

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja93skk wrote

I studied history. Periods of human enlightenment are short lived and interspersed between long periods of difficulty. To actually colonize a hostile object beyond Earth would require a level of cooperation and scientific focus never-before seen in human history.

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ObligatoryOption t1_ja9565z wrote

Humanity today bears little resemblance to what it was 10,000 years ago.

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja95zeb wrote

And the humanity that colonizes another celestial body will bear little resemblance to us.

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ObligatoryOption t1_ja96mv6 wrote

If you don't think the current generation will see humans on Mars, you're in the minority.

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja97z62 wrote

And in 1969 everyone thought we’d be on Mars by the end of the century. That being said I am hopeful we make it to Mars in my lifetime. But I also know that overseas wars and the military will always siphon the incredibly large majority of our tax dollars. Geopolitics can derail achievement in space at any moment.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja9hw31 wrote

If you are looking foward to first steps, I agree. It will be awesome when a man steps on the surface of Mars.

But other than being cool it's pointless.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja95afn wrote

Or a highly incentivized profit....

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja969ii wrote

Whatever profit is to be made will not be enjoyed by those who start this kind of work. They will be long dead. The initial cost of this work would be in the trillions.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja986r1 wrote

The key would be there are profits to be made every step of the way....

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doctorclark t1_ja996qo wrote

The true profit was the 499 generations of human civilization we met along the way.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja8pj5u wrote

I think we could do it right now if we committed ourselves as a species. Which we won't, and aren't even remotely close to, so.... I'd say it entirely hinges on commercializing space. When it becomes profitable to engage in space based endeavors is when colonization of other places enters the realm of realistic.

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Fit-Capital1526 t1_ja8ti7j wrote

500? I mean it’s entirely possible in the next 200 or so years. Tunnelling is a pretty good industry for some nations, and is likely to only improve considering the protection an underground structure would offer on the Moon and Mars

And that would be 8 generations at worst. At the moment, major hurdle is getting a manned mission to Callisto

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja933wf wrote

You think we can colonize Callisto in 200 years???

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Fit-Capital1526 t1_ja93kbb wrote

As the OP pointed out. Callisto is the easiest of the Jovian moons to visit. It is also ideal as a jumping off point for the rest of the Jovian moon. With predictions about the idea we will have put people on Mars by the 2100s. The idea of a semi-permanent or permanent base on Callisto being built in by 2200 is pretty likely

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja93ys0 wrote

OP didn’t say build a base. He said colonize.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja98x0s wrote

1000 people living and working above and on Callisto - is that Colonization?

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja99yx4 wrote

Sure, I think reproducing as well. But you may have had different ideas when you said colonize. Creating a mining colony is very different than creating a colony for people to establish themselves for generations.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja9a704 wrote

If it takes 3 years to get there and 3 more to get back, it will become a real colony if people persist at the location.

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja9bjdi wrote

People can’t just persist there. Survival alone requires technological feats never-before seen in human history. You need to raise the temperature hundreds of degrees, you need oxygen, and you need to account for psychological factors like a lack of sunlight or knowing certain death is a certainty outside the human created environment in which you live.

You can’t just drop people off and say “see you in three years!”.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja9cul9 wrote

I know, that's why I make a big deal of it. Can people actually live - with families, with lives above and beyond whatever job they are out there for....

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anotheroutlaw t1_ja9ieku wrote

I think it’s a great question you posed and one with exploring, no pun intended

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