Which planet best to escape Earth when our sun gets too hot?
Not within our lifetime, but eventually our sun will expand to a red giant engulfing the orbit of earth. Assuming humans evolve technologically, which planet would be best for human migration? The outer planets seem to have more stable magnetic fields, and ice that would by then melt into water. Perhaps human genetic engineering would by then be capable of directed mutations for gills and equipment to survive in much different environment.
I imagine staging and resource acquisition on Mars. Then a quick shot around JupiSaturn to a nice thirteen moon surf on Neptune… or perhaps a Neptune moon would be new home?
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That depends on several factors:
1.: Are humans still around by the time your sun goes Red Giant?
2.: If so, have you advanced technologically far enough for large scale interstellar travel?
3.: If not, then either Mars itself, or one of Jupiter’s moons.
4.: If so, have you discovered any Class M or terraformable extrasolar planets within reasonable travel range?
The ESA is building a probe for Jupiter’s moons, the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer.
Part of the mission is evaluating them for habitability. So in 2023 or so I will let you know if they are my answer.
By the time the Sun enters such a stage humans will have most likely been extinct for billions of years. And if, by some chance, we are still around and haven’t yet advanced enough to travel to other solar systems then we deserve to bake on this planet.
The question assumes humans will be super advanced at the time the even occurs. And thus, this question should be postulated upon from that premise. Lest this thread devolve into debate about human survival, which is fine by me if that’s where anyone wants to take the discussion.
When I say super advanced, I mean type II or III on the Kardashev scale. I postulate those types will be in full command of designer genetic mutations to survive nearly any environment, and possibly some level of planetary terra forming.
I’d suggest Mars isn’t the answer simply because of close proximity to the Earth which will be uninhabitable. That’s why I suggested it as a staging area with potential resource abundance.
An as of yet undiscovered world
@RealEyesRealizeRealLies
In that case we should have more than solved the question, spread out to the stars and colonized worlds well beyond our own solar system long before the Sun’s final stages ever become an issue.
We don’t really need to have interstellar travel by then. We just need to be able to manipulate the orbits of planets in the solar system. Even before then think if we were able to swap Europa for our moon. They are roughly the same size and we could build floating cities on that thing after a while. If there is no life there we could simply transplant certain things like stromatolites and eventually we would have an oxygen rich atmosphere…at least until all of the water is lost to space.
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