I've been pondering this for a while: once we have artificial gravity in space (from rotation, for instance), would we ever want to shackle ourselves to the gravity of a foreign planet? It would be so much easier just to create the ideal environment in a large, rotating cylinder instead of having adjust a planet's environment to our needs.
Take this new discovery for instance. Imagine that this planet is 400m years younger than earth. Would it have the necessary composition in its atmosphere to make it breathable? Does it share our gravity? Does it deflect enough stellar radiation?
I doubt we'll find earth 2, but we can recreate a comfortable environment in our own solar system. We just have to let go of the notion that we will colonize another planet for more than just curiosity-sake
Take this new discovery for instance. Imagine that this planet is 400m years younger than earth. Would it have the necessary composition in its atmosphere to make it breathable? Does it share our gravity? Does it deflect enough stellar radiation?
I doubt we'll find earth 2, but we can recreate a comfortable environment in our own solar system. We just have to let go of the notion that we will colonize another planet for more than just curiosity-sake
To give some idea of what I mean by rotating cylinder, check out the O'Neill Cylinder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O'Neill_cylinder