9 Places We Could Build Space Colonies

8. Mars

We pretty much take it for granted these days that humans will someday set up shop on the Martian surface, but what would life be like on the red planet?

Again, Mars' atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired. As well as the whole not-being-able-the-breathe thing, the thin Martian air would mean that temperatures on the surface average at a frosty -55°C. Dust storms can block out the sun for months at a time and its gravity is just 1/3 that of Earth.

Early settlers would live in pressurised habs, perhaps 3D printed from the martian soil itself, and at least partially buried beneath the ground to protect the inhabitants from the worst of the radiation that pummels martian surface.

If we find that life on Mars is valuable enough to throw some money at it, future generations could look into modifying its environment to make it more human-friendly, perhaps artificially bulking up the atmosphere or even liberating some of the water currently locked up in the polar ice cap.

We could indeed one day grow potatoes on Mars, just like in the movies (yes, complete with that kind of fertiliser)