Could we colonize an exoplanet?

Now? Not even remotely possible. At some future date when we have working FTL spacecraft and a way to artificially establish a biosphere capable of supporting our species on another world with "similar enough" characteristics??? That's the stuff of Science Fiction. read more

It will probably take us 1500 years before we can build a big enough, and self sufficient enough ship. Then it will take 1000 years to travel to a news star. Then 500 years to colonize it. So, possibly around the year 5000. read more

Exoplanet Kepler 438b, just 12 percent larger than Earth, has a mass of 0.6–4.0 times the mass of Earth. This exoplanet is probably rocky and seems to orbit within the habitable zone of its star, allowing for the presence of liquid water. Kepler 438b also has a radius 1.1 times the radius of Earth. read more

So, we may be wise to take this discussion about the repercussions of a manned mission to a nearby exoplanet more seriously than we would the latest piece of crazy science fiction. A voyage like this is becoming more and more of a possibility, and it’s important to take a step back and think about obstacles that might not be obvious. read more