Each planet in our solar system has specific environmental conditions that make them unique. Based on each planets environmental condition can either expand human life to other planets or keep us here on earth. Some planets are too hot and will roast us while others are so cold that we will freeze. Also the atmosphere can be filled with gases that may or may not be poisonous to the human body. The gravity on each planet could be too low that we would fly off into space! Here are some brief summaries about each planet and their environmental conditions. On Mercury there is hardly no atmosphere, weather, rain, or winds. Since it is the planet closest to the sun, temperatures can reach up to 801° F and -279° F at night. It has a low gravity pull of 3.7m/s^2. Its atmospheric pressure is equivalent to 10 ^-14 or 1nPa.
When visiting Venus one will experience frequent rainstorms of sulfuric acid plus many sulfuric acid clouds. The weather on Venus is very hot, consisting of 800° F each day. It has an atmospheric pressure of 90 atm composed of mostly carbon dioxide. Its gravitational pull is 8.87m/s^2.
Earth’s Moon has an extremely thin atmosphere that may contain helium, neon, hydrogen argon, and many more elements. It contains a very low gravitational pull of 1.62 m/s^2. The lighted side of the moon has a temperature of 273° F while the dark side of the moon is 243° F. The pressure varies from 10 atm to 14 atm.
Mars has a very thin and dusty atmosphere composed of nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide. While on Mars there will be a low gravitational pull of 3.71m/s^2. It has an average surface temperature of -81° F. I can reach up to 68°F in the day and -243°F at night. Mars’s atmospheric pressure is 610 Pascal’s.
On Jupiter temperatures can range from -212°F to -320°F. It has a high gravity of 24.79 m/s^2. It has atomic pressure of one bar (high pressure). Jupiter has strong wind that vary between 225-1000 mph. Jupiter is rich in oxygen and is abundant in hydrogen.
Jupiter’s moon Europa has a thin atmosphere mostly composed of oxygen. It has a low gravitational pull of 1.315 m/s^2. It has a temperature that never rises above -260°F. Also it has an atomic pressure 10^-12 that of planet Earth.
Next up is Saturn which has strong winds blowing up to 100 mph. It has a strong gravitational pull of 10.44 m/s^2. The average temperature on Saturn is -288° F which is pretty cold. Its atomic pressure also reaches one bar, which is pretty high.
Lastly we have Pluto, a dwarf planet. Pluto has ice that thaws out in the day and forms a temporary thin atmosphere that has nitrogen and some methane gas in it. It has low gravity and temperatures vary depending how close to the sun it gets. When it is closest to the sun temperatures reach up to -369°F, but fall down to -378°F when farthest away from the sun. It has an atmospheric pressure of 1Pa.
With the information given, some planets may or may not be able to support water. Waters high heat vaporization property allows it to boil once it reaches 212° F. Mercury is hot and any water that is on the planet would boil away. Venus is so hot that it can melt lead, so the water would evaporate as well. Earth’s Moon cannot support water because water vapor gets decomposed by sunlight, causing the hydrogen to get lost in space. On the contrary, Mars used to support water, however the atomic pressure decreased over time making it hard until the planet ceases to support water. Jupiter may be able to support water since it has all the ingredients. It is said that Jupiter’s red spot is a pool of water! Europa (Jupiter’s moon) has a salty liquid layer of water due to an induced magnetic field. Ganymede (Jupiter’s other moon) can’t support water because it does not have enough oxygen. There is water on Saturn but it is very little, however Saturn’s rings are mostly made of ice. Pluto only has ice in its solid state.
If we had to send out a probe to a planet/moon, we should send it to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The reasoning for this is because it is a good candidate for life. It has lots of oxygen and water. Although there is a layer of ice that is above the liquid water (thanks to lower density of ice property), humans can break through it. The water does contain salt, making it like an ocean. We can boil the water to extract the salt to make it suitable for drinking. However it has freezing temperatures that would probably kill man, yet that problem exits will all planets. It also has low gravity but man can overcome this challenge by making ourselves heavier. It doesn’t mean we should gain weight on the contrary, we can create solutions to this problem. Another problem is that Europa has high pressure, causing nausea, dizziness, and other symptoms. Technology can fix this problem with an invention that keeps the pressure stable so that humans won’t feel any symptoms of illness. An advantage is that Europa is not that distant (compared to other planets) as it is just 390.4 million miles away.
Water is life, and thanks to its unique properties that Earth can support, we humans have a home. Venturing out into the galaxy and finding a planet that also supports water and mankind will be a great accomplishment. Until then we can prepare ourselves for the expected and the unknown. We can also increase our knowledge of water by doing more studies on it and increasing our knowledge of our solar system by sending out more probes. By doing our best to be prepared we will increase of chances of being successful and can be ready for the unexpected.