I made this topic because its a shame no onw uses the Lab so here we go.

Well, how soon do you guys think people on earth will be able to call mars their second home? I would like you guys to go into detail and all. Like how they could do this. Like how will it take to Teraform mars. Or making little bio domes on mars. When will we have the tech to do this. Will making just big artifical satilates to hold lots of people be easier? (Think Gundam)

I'd say anywhere between 50 to 100 years before we colonize mars.

Reasons:

1. Marz and earth only line up correctly ever so often (I'm unsure of the exact time i don't have that info on hand.) But i'm decently sure it would take any where from 6 months to a year to do any kind of mission to mars and have them come back before it moved to a diffrent orbit.

2. We as human beings are still not technilogically savy enough to know how to generate atmosphere, we can clean our own, but we are currently unable to build one. Mars has a mostly nitrogen atmosphere and all it's water is frozen in ice caps.

3. The gravity on mars is less than that of earth, the physical ramifications of such a stay would essentially make people living there weaker than their earth born counter parts naturally.

4. We have not left our own atmosphere since the 1970's and with the current placement of the international space station and the grounding of the shuttle fleet and the money taken to make then "safe" again I don't see it in the forseeable future.

5. The moon would be a better luanching ground for any craft meant to leave to mars, mainly because of no atmosphereic drag, and about 1/3rd of earths gravity to break away from.

6. Also, the moon has vast untapped resorces and, know doubt, billions will be spent on colonizing and mining it.

We'll most definetly be seeing a Luna Colony before we see a Mars Colony, simply because, as Sith stated, the Moon can be used a platform for launching other ships to Mars.

However before we see a colony on Mars yet still, I believe we'll be seeing larger space stations being built first, and those will be the stepping stones that will lead us to building a colony on the Red Planet, but this wont be quiet some yet, I dont think we'll see any 'city' sized space stations for at least another hundred years.

here's a website that I came across, I havent taken the time to check it all out yet but it may be able to answer some stuff on space colonies for yah Tyde, and anyone else who wants to check it out.

http://members.aol.com/oscarcombs/settle.htm