Should Kepler-186f Be Colonised?

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The issue investigated in this essay is whether or not the planet Kepler-186f should be terraformed and colonised by humans. Kepler-186f is located in the Kepler-186 system, around 500 light years away from Earth. It is the first Earth-sized planet found in the habitable zone, meaning that it orbits its host star at a distance where liquid water would be able to exist (NASA, 2015). Considering this, the question of whether or not it would be able to sustain human life comes to mind. Not enough is known about the planet, so there is a possibility that Kepler-186f would be forced to be terraformed first in order to allow humans to colonise. The question still remains of whether or not the planet should be colonised. This issue affects humans …show more content…

It orbits its star once every 130 days and receives one-third the energy that Earth does from the sun, placing it near the edge of the habitable zone (NASA, 2015). Because of it’s orbiting distance from its sun, it is likely that liquid water exists on the surface, but because it is located in the outer edge of the habitable zone, it is possible that the water could freeze. However, because the planet is slightly larger than Earth, the atmosphere could be thicker, insulating the planet and stopping the surface water from becoming frozen (Kramer, …show more content…

Time should not be wasted trying to escape Earth’s issues and humans should take responsibility for the welfare of the planet they live on. Earth has the perfect conditions for life to thrive, strong enough gravity, an atmosphere that retains a balance of the gases needed for life, plenty of water and the perfect distance away from the sun, along with other things (Choi, 2012). Another point is that colonising and terraforming Kepler-186f would be extremely expensive and difficult, and if the project were to fail it would have devastating effects for Earth and everything living on it (Globus, 2016). Although Kepler-186f is the most similar planet to Earth ever found, it is still significantly different, and scientists at this point do not know enough about the planet to determine whether or not it is suitable for human life. This means that there is a chance that the planet would have to be terraformed and altered to suit humans, which would make the project even more

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