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Embark on an awe-inspiring journey through the vastness of space and explore the mesmerizing beauty of planets.
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00:00Colonizing other planets is like the ultimate cosmic adventure.
00:03It's a challenge that's captured the imagination of humans for centuries.
00:07And it's something we've always dreamed of doing.
00:11One of the most popular candidates for this role is Mars.
00:15And this isn't surprising.
00:16Mars is a rocky planet that is similar to Earth in many ways.
00:20And it even has evidence of water on its surface.
00:23This makes it a prime candidate for human colonization.
00:27Many scientists and engineers are working on plans to send humans to Mars and establish a permanent settlement there.
00:36But what about the other candidates?
00:38There are many planets and moons in our solar system.
00:41So why not colonize something else?
00:44For example, Ceres.
00:47Ceres is the ultimate cosmic treasure trove.
00:50It's a dwarf planet, not a full-fledged one, just like Pluto.
00:54It's located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
00:58This dwarf planet is the closest to the Sun.
01:01And it's adorably tiny.
01:03The entire planet is about the same size as the state of Texas.
01:08So why choose it?
01:10Because Ceres may be a rich source of valuable resources.
01:16The surface of Ceres is covered in craters and other geological features.
01:21And scientists believe that beneath its surface, it has a thick layer of water ice.
01:27Which means that deep underground, it may have an ocean of liquid water.
01:31If this is true, Ceres could be a valuable resource for future space missions.
01:36It could potentially provide a source of water for human exploration of the solar system.
01:43So, can we colonize it?
01:45And if so, how do we do that?
01:49Actually, many scientists and space enthusiasts have proposed this idea.
01:53To colonize Ceres, we'd have to use the same methods used to establish colonies on the Moon, Mercury, and the
02:00satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.
02:04Don't worry, it's not that hard.
02:06We just need to figure out how to adapt to a very thin atmosphere.
02:10To extreme temperatures, and pressure, and, well, all the other nasty stuff.
02:16But let's stay hopeful.
02:18At the end of the day, it all comes down to resources.
02:21We'll need water, minerals, silica, and other raw materials.
02:25All this would help us to create a self-sufficient colony.
02:29And luckily, Ceres is full of these things.
02:33So, first of all, we could locate the places of residence inside the craters of Ceres.
02:39We could build domes there that would protect us from all sorts of dangerous things, like radiation.
02:45We could also mine regolith in the asteroid belt.
02:49Regolith is a residual soil that appears as a result of cosmic weathering of the rock.
02:54Basically, it's something like the surface layer of soil on the Moon.
03:00Why do we need it?
03:02Well, because we could use it to 3D print the base layers next to the ice, so that our bases
03:08would be located near the water.
03:10We could then use these base layers to print other structures, like houses.
03:16We could also collect ice and organic molecules to create water.
03:21And by combining water with regolith, we would get soil, in which we could grow plants and food.
03:27Wonderful!
03:29There's also another option.
03:31A colony could be created underground.
03:34That is, right next to the icy crust of the planet.
03:39Now, if in the future we'll be some kind of super cool scientists, we could try to accelerate the rotation
03:46of Ceres.
03:46Which sounds crazy, but would be pretty beneficial.
03:50It would help us to create artificial gravity inside the underground colonies.
03:56And speaking of gravity, all of these things may sound cool, but let's discuss the difficulties that lie ahead of
04:03us during colonization.
04:06To colonize Ceres, we would need to overcome a number of challenges.
04:12To begin with, we need to develop technologies that will help us even get to Ceres.
04:17We need some kind of ships that would be capable of long flights into deep space.
04:22For them, first we need to create some kind of nuclear thermal or nuclear electric traction.
04:29And maybe an even more advanced type of fuel.
04:33Then we'll also need technology to help us sustain life in this small, rocky world.
04:39That is, tools to extract and use local resources.
04:44Also, since there's no atmosphere on Ceres, we would have to wear spacesuits and live in pressurized habitats.
04:52And this is only the beginning.
04:54Living on the planet itself won't be an easy task either.
04:58For example, what about extreme temperatures?
05:01Or radiation?
05:02Or the mentioned incredibly weak gravity?
05:06The latter is definitely one of the biggest problems.
05:09The gravity of Ceres is only 3% of the Earth's.
05:13You wouldn't want to accidentally fly into outer space while playing football, would you?
05:19But the fact that any jump could send you on an endless journey isn't the only problem.
05:24Even if you somehow stay on the surface of the planet, you'll experience the same symptoms and problems as astronauts
05:31who hang out on the International Space Station.
05:33For example, loss of muscle mass, decrease in bone density, deterioration of vision, problems with the cardiovascular system.
05:41Wow, who would have thought that gravity is so important?
05:46So therefore, if we wanted to survive on Ceres, we would need either a bunch of doctors or some kind
05:53of artificial gravity.
05:55And don't even get me started on how low gravity will slow down production and work.
06:01And of course, we can't go anywhere without discussing money.
06:06Colonizing Ceres would cost us a huge expense, especially taking into account all of the above.
06:13And yet, despite all these things, Ceres still stays one of the best candidates for colonization.
06:21For example, Ceres contains lots of methane and ammonia.
06:25They can be used as a manufactured fuel, or a nitrogenous gas.
06:30Or you can just mine it there in order to colonize Mars and Venus.
06:35Even low gravity has its advantages.
06:38Thanks to it, it will be very easy to launch spacecraft from Ceres.
06:43Ceres will waste much less fuel, which means that transportation from Ceres to other planets would be much cheaper and
06:50more efficient.
06:52So, even if Ceres doesn't become our permanent residence, it can become a good transport hub.
06:58Something like a spaceport.
07:01We could use it as a base for mining all sorts of useful things from the asteroid belt.
07:06Then, we could transport all these resources back to Mars, or Earth.
07:11And it can also become a refueling station for ships traveling further beyond the solar system.
07:17Sounds cool and pretty sci-fi-ish, doesn't it?
07:22But it seems that any attempts to create a permanent base in the asteroid belt will have to wait.
07:28Colonizing other planets is a difficult and complex task.
07:32It'll require the cooperation and expertise of many different people.
07:36And it will involve developing new technologies and overcoming many challenges.
07:42Before we go to Ceres, we need to build infrastructures on the Moon, Mars, and somewhere in between.
07:48Otherwise, any attempts to colonize it would be prohibitively expensive,
07:53and would most likely fail before future missions could even reach it.
07:58But the more colonies we create, the more likely it is that sooner or later, we'll build another one on
08:05Ceres.
08:05This would not only open the asteroid belt to economic exploitation,
08:09it would also serve as a stepping stone to the outer solar system.
08:13This, in turn, could lead to colonizing the moons of Jupiter and beyond.
08:19In other words, the rewards of colonizing Ceres could be great.
08:24Not only would it allow us to explore and understand this fascinating world,
08:28but it could also provide us with valuable resources
08:31that could help us to further explore and settle the solar system.
08:35Life on Ceres would likely be challenging, but exciting,
08:39as humans would be making a new home for themselves and exploring the mysteries of the universe.
08:44Just imagine all the new planet-themed restaurants and shops we could have.
08:49Welcome to Ceres Mart, where everything is out of this world!
08:54So, if you're a fan of cosmic treasure hunts,
08:57Ceres is surely a rich and rewarding destination.
09:01Just make sure you bring some weights on your feet, so you don't fly anywhere.
09:07Imagine a still, frozen world.
09:10It's ancient, about 4.5 billion years old.
09:14It's barely heated by the rays of the sun and covered with a thick layer of ice.
09:19This world is smaller than our moon, but a bit larger than Pluto.
09:24Its name is Europa, the sixth satellite of Jupiter and one of the biggest moons in the solar system.
09:30But the coolest thing about this faraway place?
09:33It might host life.
09:37Astronomers consider Europa one of the most promising places in the solar system
09:41to search for new life-forms.
09:43All because this moon has a huge saltwater ocean with a depth of 40 to 100 miles.
09:50Yes, it is hidden under a layer of ice that is estimated to be from 10 to 20 miles thick.
09:56But it is still potentially habitable.
09:59Astronomers claim that plumes of water erupt from cracks in the ice shell
10:02and release the contents of the moon's ocean into space.
10:07Of course, it's going to be challenging for any life-seeking missions to access such a deep environment.
10:13On the bright side, scientists already have some evidence that there are way shallower pools
10:18that probably lie much closer to the surface of the moon.
10:22They might be located even less than one mile under the ice.
10:26And there are two great things about this news.
10:29First of all, it boosts the odds of life existing on Europa.
10:33And secondly, if it's true, it can make it easier for future missions to find these life-forms,
10:38if there are any.
10:41Interestingly, the new discovery about these shallow pools came about by sheer luck.
10:45The scientist leading the research, Riley Kohlberg, accidentally saw a presentation of his colleague,
10:52a planetary scientist.
10:53That scientist showed a picture of double ridges on the surface of Europa.
10:57And Kohlberg remembered that he had seen similar ridges on Earth.
11:01But while such formations are rare on our planet, they are way more numerous on Europa.
11:06The following studies suggested that the ridges on Jupiter's moon might be the result of a specific cycle,
11:12similar to that on Earth.
11:16In this cycle, liquid water freezes and then thaws inside an ice sheet,
11:20which is a rather high-pressure environment.
11:23This causes the sheet to move upward over and over again,
11:27creating a two-peaked structure.
11:29Or at least that's what happens on Earth.
11:32If the processes on Europa are similar,
11:35it can prove the presence of shallow waters on the satellite.
11:38Of course, the temperature, pressure, and chemistry are very different on Europa.
11:42And scientists don't know yet how the ice behaves there.
11:47That's why they can't understand how deep or large the water pockets are,
11:51or how long they need to refreeze.
11:53But what is more or less clear is that such under-ice environments on Europa
11:57are very likely to be protected from Jupiter's harsh radiation,
12:00battering the satellite's surface.
12:02Which, in turn, increases the chances of life existing on Europa.
12:08Now, can we get back to the fact that the ocean on Europa seems to be salty?
12:12Red streaks on the satellite's surface might have this color due to their chemical content.
12:17They're likely a frozen mixture of water and salts.
12:19This is quite unusual because such a composition doesn't match any known substance here on Earth.
12:25As for yellow spots on Europa's surface,
12:28those might be caused by the presence of sodium chloride.
12:31You know this substance as good old table salt.
12:35Scientists tried to recreate the conditions on Europa in a lab.
12:39They discovered that by combining water, table salt,
12:42freezing temperatures, and high pressure,
12:44they could get a new kind of solid crystal.
12:47This substance might exist both at the bottom of Europa's ocean and on the moon's surface.
12:52But besides this information, researchers are in the dark.
12:57Hopefully, we'll find the answers to some of these questions around 2030.
13:01That's when a mission called Europa Clipper,
13:04which is going to be launched by NASA,
13:06will probably reach Europa.
13:08The mission is going to have several close flybys
13:10and figure out if any form of life can exist on the moon.
13:14The European Space Agency's JUICE,
13:16which stands for the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer,
13:19is going to visit Europa in the next couple of years, too.
13:22But Europa isn't the only place in the solar system that might host or once hosted life.
13:27In 2003, Mars Express,
13:29a spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency,
13:32discovered methane in the atmosphere of Mars.
13:36On our planet, the biggest part of this gas in the atmosphere is produced by living creatures,
13:41for example, by cattle digesting food.
13:43However, scientists think that methane was stable in the Martian atmosphere for about 300 years.
13:51And then, in 2006, the methane almost entirely vanished from the red planet,
13:57and it happened 600 times faster than researchers' models accounted for.
14:01The question, what or who generated the gas, and where did it go?
14:08Another Martian mystery is microbes that may be sleeping beneath the surface of Mars.
14:13There, they might have been protected from the harsh radiation coming from space for millions of years.
14:19Scientists simulated the conditions on Mars in a lab to check if it could possibly be true,
14:25and they were amazed to find out that bacteria could easily survive in such conditions for 280 million years.
14:32Which means that if life existed on Mars,
14:35we could find the evidence in the planet's subsurface by drilling into the Martian soil.
14:42Right now, there is no flowing water on Mars, and cells or spores would simply dry out.
14:48Plus, the surface temperature is similar to that of dry ice.
14:52In other words, the surface of the planet is deeply frozen.
14:55And still, there could be six types of bacteria and fungi living underground on the red planet.
15:02The most likely of them is nicknamed Conan the bacterium due to its tough nature.
15:06Well, I guess time will show.
15:09Now, let's move to Venus.
15:11In 2020, scientists announced that in the toxic Venusian atmosphere,
15:16there was something that might mean the existence of life.
15:21Unfortunately, scientists didn't have any evidence,
15:24since there was no chance to collect any microbe specimens,
15:27or snap any pictures of extraterrestrial life.
15:31But they claimed that they had discovered a chemical called phosphine there,
15:35and it was a big deal.
15:37If it wasn't some previously unknown chemistry that was producing this gas,
15:42then there could be some kind of microbial life involved in the process.
15:47Phosphine is made up of three atoms of hydrogen and one atom of phosphorus.
15:51This gas is toxic to any terrestrial life form that needs oxygen, including us humans.
15:57On our planet, phosphine can be found in places with no or little oxygen,
16:02for example, marshes and swamps.
16:04The gas is created by complex mixtures of bacteria living there.
16:07It can also be produced industrially.
16:12Come to think of it,
16:13phosphine isn't supposed to be in Venus's atmosphere altogether.
16:16This gas needs precise pressure and temperature,
16:19and tons of hydrogen to form.
16:22It wouldn't be all that surprising to find it on Saturn or Jupiter or famous gas giants.
16:27But on Venus?
16:29Totally unexpected.
16:31There's no way phosphine can be naturally produced on this planet.
16:35Tiny amounts of it can be created during volcanic eruptions,
16:39lightning storms,
16:40minerals blown up to the surface,
16:41or meteorites entering Venus's atmosphere,
16:44but not as much as astronomers thought they had observed.
16:47And it had to make scientists suspicious.
16:49But they were too happy about their discovery.
16:53They probably thought it meant there could be life on Venus.
16:57But even if this gas was created by some mysterious organisms,
17:01it would be a big question how they survived on Venus.
17:05On our planet,
17:06some microbes can thrive in environments with an acidity of 5%.
17:11But no more.
17:12On Venus, though,
17:14clouds are almost entirely made of acid,
17:16containing more than 90% of sulfuric acid.
17:20The Venusian atmosphere is also 50 times as dry as the driest place on our home planet.
17:24And indeed,
17:26in 2022,
17:27thanks to better and more high-resolution telescopes,
17:30it was concluded that there was no phosphine in Venus's atmosphere.
17:34Or even if there was,
17:36it was a very small amount.
17:37So far,
17:38we need to look for signs of life further away from Earth.
17:41The Venusian atmosphere is a very small part of the planet.
17:41The Venusian atmosphere is a very small part of the planet.
17:41The Venusian atmosphere is a very small part of the planet.
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