Posted by tourdemars to Terraforming at January 13, 2004 12:00 PM

Inhabitants would need to take their own food and water, at least at first. But while the Moon is a barren wasteland, water could be recycled and more food grown in greenhouses lit by nuclear power. Once a base is established, future generations might live in the Moon’s giant network of lava tubes — caves formed by past volcanic activity. Surprisingly Mars is a far MORE realistic prospect for habitation. The planet, 64million miles away, has a day-night cycle like ours. Its atmosphere is thick enough to mask harmful Sun radiation. And gravity, while only a third the strength of Earth’s, is much more to our taste than the Moon’s.