Will there ever be cities off of Earth?

[WestAir]

A lot of science fiction depicts humanity spreading into the stars. Many suggest we'll have colonies on the Moon, Mars, Callisto and Titan, Colony ships and sprawling mega-structures in orbit.

Many of you know more than the writers of science fiction. So I ask the question: Based on the factors of reality, what is our most likely future in space? Will we see colonies, cities and nations form out of Earth, or were the 1960's the golden age of space?

[K^2]

Simple logic dictates that we will either have colonies off-Earth, or we will go extinct. Human beings are very good at surviving. But we are also very good at cutting the branch we sit on. I honestly have no idea which one is more likely. There are no fundamental problems with starting off-Earth colonies. There are some engineering problems. There are lots and lots of socioeconomic ones. There would definitely have to be some changes, either in technology, politics, or environment, but I don't think anyone could remotely reliably predict these.

[Tex_NL]

If there is money to be made then yes, people will settle those places.

People are selfish by nature and if they think they can strike it rich there will always be a few that are prepared to take huge risks . Look at the early American settlements or the various gold rushes. People literally left everything behind. And in support of those early prospectors the settlements grew ever bigger. Eventually growing to a size they become self supporting and becoming a staging post for new exploration and settlement.

This will also be true for early moon and mars settlements as long as there are valuable resources to find.

[Rakaydos]

If Planetary Resources ltd launches an orbital factory capable of producing cheap, dirty space probes out of earth-crosssing asteroid materials, NASA will pay them the fortune that they save in launching it. (they might pay a little less, but the cold facts of buerocracy is that if they ever have money left in the budget at the end of the year they lose it.)

[Nibb31]

We don't have many cities underwater, on mountain tops, or in Antarctica. The reason is that they are not very hospitable places to build a city.

I have no doubt that we will have manned outposts and research stations, maybe small mining settlements if we're lucky, but I doubt we will ever have the need to build cities on other planets when we have plenty of room here.

[Tex_NL]

I doubt habitability is the deciding factor for the lack of 'cities underwater, on mountain tops, or in Antarctica'. It's profitability! We can live in those places if we wanted to but there is nothing to gain from doing so. If the benefits outweigh the costs people will settle anywhere.

[Albert VDS]

Underwater cities aren't practical and offer no benefit over land cities.

There are enough mountain towns in the world.

Antarctica has 2 towns Esperanza Base with a population of 55 and Villa Las Estrellas with a population varying from Summer 120 to Winter 80.

[SargeRho]

I'm going to say yes, within this century....Towns at least

[Nibb31]

I doubt habitability is the deciding factor for the lack of 'cities underwater, on mountain tops, or in Antarctica'. It's profitability! We can live in those places if we wanted to but there is nothing to gain from doing so. If the benefits outweigh the costs people will settle anywhere.

Exactly. It will be a very long time before any benefits of living permanently off-world outweigh the cost, if ever.

[Sillychris]

I believe that if humanity does not self extinguish we will absolutely have cities and entire nations off planet.

It may not happen in my lifetime, or my children's lifetime but it will happen.

Scientific outposts will turn into colonies when they become self sustaining... I think this is a very realistic possibility for Mars. Mars has water and energy. There's plenty of iron for construction. Getting started on mars is just a matter of sending enough start up technology. The lack of a strong magnetic field on Mars does present a difficulty, so shielding will be very important on your vehicles and cities, but that's simple enough to build. Cities will probably be underground to take advantage of easy shielding, much like particles physics experiments which are conducted deep underground.

I think that it is theoretically possible to terraform Venus, although the sheer might of terraforming equipment required may prove to be prohibitive. OR maybe not. To me, the holy grail of terraforming is engineered extremophile microorganisms that you can send a vial of and let them do the work for you. If Venus' atmosphere could be bent to our will, Venus would be a fantastic place to colonize... although the lack of magnetic field presents your standard shielding problem.

I think that before we see any significant colonization of asteroids or satellites beyond Mars, an economically powerful Mars will have to exist as the stepping stone. Martian spacecraft would be able to reach much further beyond the terrestrial solar system with much lower dv.

It's gonna happen. Humans are just way to brave and clever for it not to.

[TheExplosionist]

There'll never be any cities on any orbiting bodies in this system. Either the atmospheric pressure is too high or the gravity is too weak.

I imagine they'll be mining colonies and space stations though.

[DoctorCruz]

I think we'll probably have moon colonies fairly soon. Really, once we figure out how to generate artificial environments (gravity, air, stable living conditions) everything will be a lot easier. Also, there will have to be some sort of enhanced propulsion to enable easy trips to and from the moon.

In short, I think that the moon and Mars will be the first two, not sure which order, but since the moon is closer I might lean towards it. Although Mars has more favorable conditions, I think the distance will be somewhat prohibitive for the next couple decades.