The next 500 years of SPACE COLONIZATION
Less than a century has passed since the first time a human arrived in space until
today. During that time, space science and technology have advanced by leaps and bounds,
and we have managed to take humans to the moon, robots to other planets, and even
spacecraft to the ends of the solar system. If we have achieved all this in less than
80 years, what will we achieve in the next 200 years or 500?
Will there be human bases on the moon, or will we finally begin to populate Mars?
Join us to find out! 2030
According to the most optimistic estimates, by 2030, the most crucial space agencies in the
world will have placed humans on the moon again, but this time, they will stay there indefinitely.
NASA's Artemis project is one of the most ambitious, and stage 3 is already underway,
which will seek to place a new generation of astronauts on the moon, who, this time, will
have the mission of searching for the most optimal areas to start to build the first lunar base.
2050 If everything goes
as planned after the new generation of astronauts reaches the moon, other space agencies worldwide
will also want to place their settlements on our natural satellite; this will happen
because everyone will want a piece of the moon. The ambition for the lunar territories yet to
be conquered will start a new space race in which space agencies from around the world will compete
to take over the best areas of the moon, such as the areas with the most mineral resources or the
areas with the most water, only Let's hope that this competition is peaceful and beneficial for
all of humanity and not just for a few. 2060
The first uncrewed mission is launched to explore the Alpha Centauri star system; it is expected to
take 40 years to reach its destination. 2070
Suppose a war does not break out to take over the moon, and nations manage to distribute
the lunar surface peacefully. In that case, the world will begin a new era of
international collaborations to colonize the moon. It would be similar to what happened when the
International Space Station was built but taken on a larger scale. During the construction of the
ISS, various nations worldwide collaborated in a joint effort to achieve a common goal:
having humans permanently in space. If we can make peace, we could do the
same on the moon, bringing the best technologies from around the world to begin the colonization
of our natural satellite. 2100
First lunar base. If the colonization resulting from the collaborations of all countries in the
world is successful, in the next century, the human race will be a species that inhabits
two worlds, the Earth and the Moon. The first lunar base will be modest,
although it will have the best technology on the planet, the latest technological advances,
and the most sophisticated equipment. It will be a small base, perhaps 5 or 10 times larger than
the International Space Station, but still, it will be small compared to the size of the moon.
It is not known precisely what the design or architecture of the first lunar base will be
since there are many proposals, and they all seem to be possible with modern technology,
but if you would like to know what the most realistic proposals are for humanity's first
lunar base let us know in the comments. 2110
With the launch of the first lunar base, better propulsion technologies will be developed,
and significant advances will be made in space rocket technology; thanks to this, we can cover
longer distances in less time, motivating us to go further and further. , starting
with the planet most similar to Earth, Mars. Thanks to the experience of building a base
on the moon and having improved space rocket technology, humans can carry
out the ambitious and dangerous journey to Mars. By 2115, trips to Mars should be much easier and
may become as common as trips to the moon. 2104
We received the first images from the space exploration probe destined to reach Alpha
Centauri. 2120
With the rapid advancement of space travel technology, technology on Earth will also
progress rapidly, as all advances made in space will directly impact Earth.
One of those technologies that could improve by this date is energy storage.
Most likely, if we manage to take advantage of the moon's resources,
the most popular methods of obtaining energy will be energy from hydrogen and nuclear fusion.
These two methods are not only clean and environmentally friendly, but they will possibly
be the only ones that can be used on the moon. With this significant advance and development,
the bases on the moon and Mars will be able to receive more and more humans and increase in
size and complexity. 2130
The advancement of technology will also bring significant changes to human beings as a species;
thanks to the development of biotechnology and the need to treat diseases and accidents based
on the moon and Mars, scientists will be forced to use printing more and more in 3D of human organs,
we will also implement new technologies to our bodies, such as improvements in eyes and ears
that allow us to communicate only with thought. This new change in human biology will turn us
into cyborgs or androids. We will no longer be only an advanced race of apes but a race that is
half human, half robot. 2150
During the first decades of the colonization of the moon and Mars,
humans could not stay on those worlds for more than ten years because their bodies would atrophy
too much and they would die, so the bases are maintained with astronauts who rotate shifts
every 5 to 10 years and then return to Earth. But by the year 2150, the human race will have
spent so much time adapting its body to the space environment that astronauts can extend their stay
on the moon and Mars indefinitely, acquiring a new morphology that will allow them to withstand the
effects of low gravity. 2190
Having successfully adapted humans to the gravity of a different planet on Earth,
humanity is ready to begin again. Just 100 years after creating the first
lunar base, the first baby on Mars was born, the first Martian, the son of two humans who adapted
to the environment of the red planet and are now the parents of the first human being born on a
planet other than the Earth. 2200
Thanks to the rapid adaptation of humans to new environments, the possibility of doing the same
with the rest of the animals and plants on Earth is beginning to be considered,
so experiments are beginning with stem cells from various species to make them
resistant to the low gravity of the Moon and Mars, their embryos are subsequently sent to
be born at the bases of the Moon and Mars. Later, two zoos were built simultaneously,
with species of animals and plants created on Earth but born based on the Moon and Mars.
Humans welcome animals and plants, but they ask themselves whether these creatures are animals
since they were created in laboratories with the help of Artificial Intelligence and have
the genes of the animals we know on Earth. Still, they were born on another planet and are slightly
different from those on Earth, so wouldn't those animals be the first aliens created by humans?
2210 With new space technologies,
the human race begins to leave the planet more and more, and we begin the construction
of an artificial ring around the Earth with space elevators that will make traveling from Earth to
space take less than 10 minutes by elevator. 2220
The adventurous spirit of humans takes them further and further. Once bases are
successfully established on the Moon and Mars, we begin to go further and further,
establishing the first small bases on the moons of Jupiter, and Ceres, the giant dwarf planet in
the asteroid belt. 2250
The human race has mastered space flight, and now we face new challenges, mainly distances;
as we expand throughout the solar system, the development of antimatter propulsion becomes
more necessary, which drives companies and governments to create this new technology.
In addition, we began testing to divert asteroids in a controlled manner to extract their materials
with space mining carried out mainly by robots. 2260
The need to have assistants in space helps the rapid improvement of humanoid robots operated by
artificial intelligence. We have made significant progress, but they are still not 100% intelligent,
as they depend on human control. 2280
Humans manage to reach Jupiter's moons for the first time. The spaceships used for the trip
touch the limit of the most advanced technology. However, they are still incapable of protecting
the astronauts from Jupiter's radiation, which is very high, so they cannot establish a space base
and must return to Mars. 2290
Having overcome the challenges of landing on one of Jupiter's moons,
the human race places its first base on the Galilean moons, specifically on Ganymede.
2300 The human race is celebrating its
second century as explorers of the solar system; space travel technology is becoming increasingly
complex and requires the intervention of highly advanced artificial intelligence to control it.
The different bases on the Moon and Mars have become small cities inhabited
by thousands of people who have developed a different morphology and even distortion in
language and their economy. The Martian base is already considering the possibility of creating
its currency and a government exclusive to Mars and utterly unrelated to Earth.
2310 The first
rebellions began in the bases of the Moon and Mars; the inhabitants of those places no longer
wish to be treated in the same way as humans on Earth since they were all born outside of Earth.
The inhabitants of the Moon want to cut connections with the Earth and Mars; meanwhile,,
the inhabitants of Mars want to stop depending on the resources sent to them from Earth because they
consider themselves autonomous. 2330
The bases on the Moon and Mars take on new names and new policies, declaring themselves as wholly
sovereign and independent countries with their own rules, laws, currency, and even their language.
The inhabitants of the new bases are still recognized as humans,
but they are evolving and developing very differently from the humans still on Earth.
2350 With the independence of the bases on the Moon
and Mars, the inhabitants of both worlds decide to begin terraforming both places, something they
had wanted to do for a long time but that the laws of Earth did not allow them to do.
A new concern is beginning on Earth because human colonies on other worlds are moving further away
and deciding to stop trading with us. 2370
Asteroid manipulation accidentally causes humans on Earth to divert an asteroid toward the Moon.
No person dies, but the inhabitants of the Moon begin to develop the laws of the solar system,
where limits begin to be placed on what each planet can do.
From here on, the inhabitants of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars begin to have conflicts of interest
that could end in an unprecedented escalation. 2380
Tensions between the colonies on Earth, the Moon, and Mars calm down,
and they collaborate to explore the solar system and all the other planets.
2390 The first humans are sent to Europa, Jupiter's
Moon, and the search for extraterrestrial life begins in the ocean beneath Europa's ice sheets.
2400 Humans arrive at Saturn and placed the first
bases on Enceladus, one of the moons with the most significant water reserves in the solar system.
2420 A new form of space tourism is beginning to
become a trend in which millionaires can practice sports in some areas of the solar system, such as
the Moon, Mars, or the moons of Jupiter. 2450
Humanity manages to colonize all the planets in the solar system by placing bases on the
moons of the gaseous planets. We became an extraplanetary species.
With spaceships that can travel throughout the solar system in a matter of days and
trade of different technologies between the different colonies.
2470 The human colonies on
the moons of Jupiter begin to grow exponentially thanks to the immense reserves of water that they
can extract from the moon Europa 2480
The Jupiter colonies manage to outnumber the colony on Mars and begin to build a trade network
throughout the solar system. 2500
After colonizing all the planets, having terraformed the moon and Mars,
and having created an interplanetary trade network, all the colonies in the solar system
come together to develop an interstellar ship to begin making trips to other stars.
In the most optimistic scenario, the human race will manage to colonize the
entire solar system in just 500 years. Which of these events would you like
to see with your own eyes? Let us know in the comments!