To: Mr. Lex Luthor, CEO, CSO and CFO of LexCorp and Ms. Carol Ferris, Head of Ferris Aerospace (LexCorp Subsidiary)
Highly Confidential Information, if you are not one of the above individuals reading the contents of this report qualifies as an act of industrial espionage and any LexCorp, or LexCorp subsidiary, employee(s) doing so should immediately turn themselves in to either Ms. Mercy Graves, Head of LexCorp Security or Mr. Carl Draper, Head of the Department of Internal Review, failure to do so will result in immediate termination and the pursuit of legal action to the full extent of the law.
SpaceLex Proposals for the Development of Extraterrestrial Colonies
With LexCorp's recent innovations in the field of space exploration and invention of revolutionary new power generation technology as well as a strong chance of more major breakthroughs in the near future, most notably cracking the secrets behind Faster Than Light (FTL) travel, a committee of researchers, engineers and analysts* has been assembled to assess the possibility and logistics of long term habitation on various celestial bodies in our solar system.
Please note that this report was written under the belief that recent breakthroughs in Cold Engine and/or Kryptonite Power would make the utilisation of previously developed artificial gravity generators far simpler on a large scale so mostly ignores the potential issues that varying levels of gravity might have on a populace.
Luna
Luna, more commonly referred to as simply The Moon, is the most obvious candidate for humanity's first permanent off-world facility in spite of its relative lack of desirable materials that are not already present in far larger numbers on Earth. The most notable reasons for colonising Luna are it's relative proximity to Earth compared to all other celestial bodies (Making ferrying the necessary supplies to and potential exports from there much simpler), it providing a relatively safe location to test the effects of long term extraterrestrial habitation on a populace as well as other experiments useful for the development of larger off-world facilities, plenty of open space for the development of infrastructure to support space travel and the much lesser gravitational pull and lack of atmosphere allowing for further expeditions to be launched from the lunar surface more easily than from Earth, with an escape velocity of only 2,400 Metres Per Second/ 5,400 Miles Per Hour compared to Earth's 11,184 mps/ 25,000 mph. Luna also has the advantages of its lower gravity making heavy industry easier due to the various machinery necessary weighing less and allowing the usage of mass drivers to get ships, components and supplies into orbit far simpler than on Earth.
The ideal location for a lunar colony is theorised to be one of the larger craters that dot the moons surface, preferably close to tone of the poles such as the Tycho or Shackleton craters, in order to take advantage of the extended periods of sunlight on the rim for the purposes of power production or food growth, have access to the water ice typically found at the base of such craters and also use it's high walls to keep any fledgling colony safe from the long lunar days. The much lighter gravity of the moon would also allow for the construction of extremely tall, thin towers on the rim of the crater for the dual purposes of serving as transmitters for communication with Earth, other Lunar colonies or space stations and capturing even more sunlight for solar energy.
Perhaps the largest impediment to the colonisation of Luna is it's month long day (Two weeks of constant daylight followed by two weeks of darkness) as both the lack of sunlight and unending amounts of it, especially the harsh rays experienced on Luna due to its lack of atmosphere, can cause their own problems. One of the main issues caused by this is the inability to rely solely on solar power due to the long stretches of time that it is unfeasible, as a result we recommend the usage of solar power during the daylight weeks and using a Cold Engine to take advantage of the subzero temperatures of the nighttime weeks. However, we advise against the usage of conventional photovoltaic solar panels on the lunar surface due to persistent moon dust, micrometeoroids and harmful unfiltered radiation rendering them less effective, rather we recommend the usage of solar thermal energy, where mirrors redirect the sunlight to heat up a conductive material which is then used to produce steam and turn a turbine, this is generally more useful both because it avoids most of the earlier issues and in the early days of the colony can be locally sourced using basalt and eventually replaced by either a Stirling engine, where the conductive material is replaced by a gas that expands with the heat to pump pistons, or a Kryptonite generator if transfer of the material is viable.
A further complication of the extended day/night cycle is the complications it causes with agriculture, we suggest overcoming these with either the use of Rapid Growth Formula, the implementation of the suggested food rations, further research on hydroponics or preferably a combination of all three.
Note: The subject of potential terraforming was also broached but ultimately found to be outside the purview of this particular committee
Mars
Mars' relative proximity to Earth and nature as the first major stepping stone outside of our solar system typically make it the most desirable location for the first human colony on another planet and with recent breakthroughs, and seeming inevitably of the discovery of FTL travel, the distance between it and Earth is becoming less and less of an impediment. Realistically however there is currently no evidence of unique physical benefits to colonising Mars, it is currently not believed to possess any resources or materials that Earth and Luna do not already possess in larger number and as a result most of the benefits of colonising it are either purely symbolic or to serve as a waystation to the rest of the solar system, with the potential existence of FTL even bringing the necessity of the latter into question.
However this does not mean that Mars should not be colonised to some extent, even a single effective colony would be able to exploit an untapped source of goods of which LexCorp would have a monopoly but it would also allow for easier study to determine if there are resources of note and even allow for a safe place to test potential terraforming technology and methods where it is unlikely that any failures would have a notable effect on people.
Due to the main immediate benefits of Martian colonisation being almost purely scientific it is suggested that a permanent space station should be constructed in orbit around the planet before any permanent colony in order to house personnel, coordinate efforts, operate as a relay to Earth and/or Luna and if needed serve as an evacuation point in case of catastrophic failure in a colony.
The complications presented by the actual surface of Mars mainly consist of the hostile atmosphere, solar radiation and huge dust storms which can black out the sky for days on ends all of which preclude the construction of an open, surface colony and ultimately leave us with three possible locations for our purposes.
1) Arcadia Planitia: A large, smooth plain west of the Tharsis region where it is believed that ancient lava flows have left large amounts of useful materials and possesses significant evidence of ice water, primarily Martian gullies, only slightly below the surface which would prove an important resource for any new colony. The primary form of colonisation for this area would be large domed compounds where colonists would live, work and grow their own food in environmentally controlled hydroponics domes with the ideal final goal being the existence of entire domed, self-sufficient cities.
2) Olympus Mons: Located in the Tharsis region it is the single largest mountain in the solar system, at 27 kilometres or 16.7 miles tall and as wide as Arizona, it is also believed to have notable nearby resource deposits and subsurface water but both it and it's three nearby sister volcanoes also possess enormous, cavernous networks of lava tunnels that could relatively easily be remade into underground bases and colonies safely sheltered from the hostile environment. The theoretical ideal being the eventual carving out of the entire mountain and transforming it into a natural arcology.
3) Valles Marineris: A huge system of canyons east of the Tharsis region (4,000km/ 2,500 mi long, 200km/ 120mi deep and up to 7km/ 23,000ft deep) the sheer size of the network all but guarantees access to the materials on Mars' surface and there is evidence of subsurface water on the eastern side of the canyon and various other points inside it. The plan for the colony would begin at the Noctis Labyrinthus tunnels on the western side of the canyon utilising them much the sam way the proposed Olympus Mons colony would it's lava tunnels and expanding throughout the network as time went on. The theoretical ideal of this colony being doming in the entire canyon network in order to perform some, relatively, small scale terraforming to convert the canyon into a liveable environment for humanity which would take significant effort but produce a hypothetical utopia and provide extremely useful data.
One advantage that all of these locations share is that they are relatively nearby to Pavonis Mons a volcano in the Tharsis region that due to both its height and its location on the equator has been identified as the ideal location for the ground side terminus of a space elevator which Mars' lighter gravity and thinner atmosphere make easier to build and maintain than on Earth (This was also considered for Luna but the effect that Earth's gravity would have had on the elevator rendered it unfeasible) and if constructed the proposed Martian space station could be adapted to serve as the space side terminus.
Some other complications with a Martian colony are that the thinner atmosphere make regular flight far more difficult than on Earth and thus transport between colonies and outposts harder to accomplish but conversely the thinner atmosphere also makes high speed trains more efficient which could replace the role of flight if planned properly. Another complication is that the regular dust storms on the surface of Mars make solar energy unreliable at best which means that any colony would have to depend on either a Cold Engine to take advantage of the cold Martian nights, a Kryptonite reactor if the element was available or geothermal power for those colonies near volcanoes.
Of course much of this research is thrown into question somewhat by recent evidence suggesting the existence of life on Mars but the odds of that life being anything other than microbial is insignificant so should not impact plans too much.**
Venus
Venus is typically seen as Earths sister planet and arguably for good reason, it is 82% the mass of Earth, has 90% of the Earths gravity, gets closer to Earth then any other planet and as recently as the 1960's it was believed that Venus' cloudy atmosphere hid a veritable paradise that could have been teeming with life but we now know that not to be true. Venus' clouds are made out of sulphuric acid, has the most volcanoes of any planet on our solar system which combined with its proximity to the sun and its extremely thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, approximately one hundred times thicker than Earth's atmosphere, trapping most heat results in the planet being a veritable hothouse with temperatures of approximately 900 degrees Fahrenheit or 475 degrees Celsius with the surface so hot that the carbon dioxide changes from a gas into a roiling sea of supercritical fluid.
However Venus is not entirely uninhabitable, at approximately 50-55km or 31mi above the surface the atmosphere thins out enough that it is essentially normal Earth temperature and pressure but the carbon dioxide atmosphere also means that many gasses can be used as a lifting agent on Venus, helium is even more efficient than on Earth but the lack of oxygen in Venus' environment makes hydrogen, which can be extracted from the sulphuric acid clouds. far safer than it is on Earth and far more effective as a lifting agent. This is what provides us with a viable method of colonisation of Venus, the usage of these locally sourced lifting gasses to maintain floating platforms and eventually even cities, referred to as aerostats, in this idyllic zone of Venus' atmosphere.
Further advantages of this method are that oxygen and water can also be recycled from Venus' clouds and that the planets day/night cycle extends over 243 days which makes solar power an extremely efficient source of energy and allows for plenty of farming on these aerostat platforms. There is some debate over which form of aerostat habitat is superior, those that use graphite tethers connected to the planets surface to stay permanently locked in one location or those that utilise engines and other propellers to move around the planet as they wish though it is the ultimate founding of this committee that a combination of the two is preferable, with the tethered habitats serving as larger refuelling stations for incoming ships and their fellow flying cities.
The main appeal for colonising Venus is the sheer quantities of gas that can be gathered from its atmosphere, not just carbon dioxide but also nitrogen which despite only making up 7% of the planets atmosphere is still more abundant than on Earth purely because of how thick that atmosphere is. Furthermore there are numerous metals and other resources on Venus' surface that are also worth extracting, we may not be able to survive the acid storm, pressure and volcanoes necessary to do so but the creation of remotely operated or AI controlled drones that can survive it is well within our reach.
Venus is also of note for being the planet in our solar system that is perhaps most suited to terraforming, with their being multiple possible routes that could be taken to accomplish this, such as the construction of a massive network of mirrors to redirect light in such a way to cool Venus down while simulating a 24 hour day. However, once again the topic of terraforming was found to be outside the purview of this committee
It is also worth noting that many scientists have suggested that Venus may have hosted life at some point in its ancient past with some even suggesting that some species still survive on its hellish surface but this is generally seen as a fringe opinion in the scientific community.***
Mercury
As the second smallest planet in the solar system and the closest to the sun Mercury is typically ignored when discussing colonisation but there is in fact ample reason to consider it as a strong contender, the surface of Mercury is made up almost entirely of iron, silicon, magnesium and graphite all potentially useful materials that could be excavated from the planet in huge quantities. Another potential advantage of Mercury is that it's unique orbit means that it is on average the closest planet to every other planet which could make it a viable transportation hub which when combined with its potential for mining and lack of atmosphere making mass drivers a viable cargo delivery method makes Mercury a possible industrial powerhouse and extremely useful for facilitating future colonisation projects.
For many years it was believed that Mercury was tidally locked so that one side of its surface always faced the sun and the other always faced away but more recent research has shown this to not be the case, rather the planets slow rotation and fast orbit around the sun means that the sun does travel slowly across the planet's surface taking 176 days, or two local years, for the sun to rise and set again. This results in two radically different environments on the surface of the planet, on the side facing the sun at the time temperatures can reach as high as 800 degrees Fahrenheit or 430 degrees Celsius while the side facing away from the sun can be as cold as -290 degrees Fahrenheit or -180 degrees Celsius. However there exists a so called "twilight zone" where the two extremes meet, the sun being just over the horizon and warming the are enough to not be freezing but not so much as to be scorching, due to the long cycle of the planet this twilight zone is very slow moving with the sun only moving 87km a day which theoretically makes staying inside this idealised zone easy.
The best place to establish an initial colony on Mercury is most likely near one of its poles which are stuck in eternal darkness dash they never face the sun, due to this they serve as cold traps and may contain large quantities of water despite the extreme temperatures and potentially even arable land. The first priority of any colony mission to Mercury after landing in the twilight zone at one of the planets poles would be to immediately dig a tunnel down to where the ambient temperature to closer to that of room temperature on Earth ehich would eventually become the foundation for an underground colony that would ideally encircle the entire pole one day, accompanied by a sister colony on Mercury's other pole, where colonists would live, work and grow food with transport around the ring being provided by underground high speed railways. These colonies would most likely be powered by Cold Engines when in the dark and solar power similar to Luna when in daylight.
These would not be the only structures on Mercury however, ideally there would also be several large mobile refineries and mining platforms that would excavate materials from the twilight zone as it moved across the planets surface and transport those materials either directly to above ground stations on the pole rings or to smaller above ground depots closer to the equator that would hopefully either have their own rail lines to one of the rings or could otherwise store the materials until it was safe to transfer them over land.
Ceres
The largest asteroid in the solar system Ceres is often considered a dwarf planet in its own right and makes up a third of the asteroid belts mass all by itself, with the next dozen largest asteroids combined only just equaling it and the remaining several million smaller asteroids making up the final third.
There are several reasons why colonising Ceres itself would be beneficial, the surface of the planet consists of ammonia rich clay which could easily be turned into nitrogen, graphite, magnesium and various other carbonates. Furthermore Ceres possesses significant amounts of water ice both on the surface and underground as the presence of cryovolcanoes suggest. Perhaps most fittingly for a celestial body named after the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres also possesses many of the base necessities for growing plants locally, albeit still in climate controlled domes and with the introduction of Earth microbes, and despite its significant distance from the sun it's lack of atmosphere ensures that it still receives ample sunlight for plant growth while also being protected from most harmful radiation.
Most of the methods that would be used to colonise Ceres would be almost identical to those used on Luna with the exception that conventional solar panels would be more viable on Ceres than on Luna due to the distance from the sun and lesser amounts of dust. The primary site for initial colonisation would most likely be Occator, a large crater on the asteroids equator approximately the size of Argentina which provides ample space for expansion both above and below ground and experiences the highest amount of daylight which is especially useful for agriculture.
One of the potential issues with colonisation of Ceres is the possibility of micrometeorite strikes due to tire place I the asteroid belt however we theorise that the previously designed force field emitters would be able to provide ample protection even if they have not seen proper implementation yet.
Of course the major benefit of colonising Ceres is the almost unrestricted access it would grant us to the rest of the asteroid belt with the dwarf planet being able to sustain a relatively large population of miners, researchers and other workers, being able to support the infrastructure necessary for such a project and its lack of an atmosphere allow for mass drivers to deploy smaller mining ships or drones with little issue. This would allow for the mass mining of the countless asteroids in the belt for rare and valuable materials that are relatively common there such as gold, platinum, Kryptonite, etc.
Note: It is worth noting that much of the same methods for and benefits of colonising Ceres outdoor also be applied to Vesta, the second largest asteroid in the asteroid belt down the line as it's location in the opposite end of the belt would potentially make it a useful secondary mining colony though it's much smaller size compared to Ceres may present some unique issues.
Jupiter
Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the solar system and other than the sun the single largest source of mass in the solar system, in fact even if you were to combine every other celestial body in the solar system the resulting planet still would not rival the mass of Jupiter. However, unique so far among the planets discussed is that Jupiter is a gas giant which means that there is no surface on which to establish a colony with the closest that is possible to a colony on the planet itself being the construction of space stations around Jupiter's orbit for the purpose of mining the rare gas helium-3 from the planets atmosphere.
Even this is not simple however as Jupiter's deep gravity well and the extreme radiation emitted from the planet would make establishing such a facility far more difficult than for most other planets but it is hypothesised that with advancements in radiation shielding, forcefield emitters and artificial gravity generators would allow for it to be accomplished with minimal danger.
The closest thing to a proper Jovian colony that could be established is most likely on one or more of the Galilean moons, Jupiter's four largest moons which are among the largest celestial bodies in the solar system that aren't planets and some are even larger than certain planets such as Mercury and Pluto. Among these moons Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, and Io, the closest moon to Jupiter, can be removed as candidates for immediate colonisation again due to the effects of Saturn's radiation being potentially fatal to any colonists at least until potential solutions are found but we believe the best way to do that would be to focus on establishing colonies on the remaining Galilean moons first in the hopes of better understanding the situation.
The first Galilean moon that could be colonised is Callisto, Jupiter's furthest moon and the only one far enough way to be completely safe from the planets radiation. The major benefits of Callisto as a colony are the presence of ample water ice and a suspected subsurface ocean, the lack of volcanoes or other tectonic features resulting in a stable geological environment, enough sunlight to support the growth of crops and the presence of iron, magnesium and silicates. A potential issue with Callisto is that it is tidally locked with Jupiter which results in its day/night cycle lasting 17 days however this would largely be insignificant because what radiation that does hit Callisto would make underground habitation far preferable anyway with it being suggested that a colony would utilise similar methods as the colony on Luna, which should not be a problem as Callisto has the most craters of any celestial body which means ample space for the construction of domes but would require the use of forcefields to prevent the creation of more craters in inhabited areas. A Callisto colony could theoretically be powered by solar panels but would most likely be better off taking advantage of the subzero temperatures caused by being so far away from the sun to utilise the Cold Engine to its full capacity.
The second Galilean moon that could potentially be colonised is Europa, the second closest moon to Jupiter, which despite being exposed to extreme radiation from Jupiter does have a reasonably viable path to colonisation. Europa's crust is believed to in fact just be a relatively thin mixture of silicate and ice covering a vast subsurface ocean larger and deeper than any on Earth and a colony on Europa would most likely exist almost entirely in this subsurface ocean as the crust would provide protection from the Jovian radiation with the occasional surface facility only existing for communications, research and space travel. The construction of this colony would depend largely on the reverse engineering of recently discovered Atlantean technology to suit the underwater environment, most notably the Coral Construction Formula for creating habitats, Artificial Sunlight Lamps to help grow crops and provide a more comfortable environment for colonists and the Water Propulsion Engine to power colonies in conjunction with the Cold Engine, though some mobile colonies constructed using typical submarine technology adapted for the Europan environment and powered by Kryptonite engines could also play a role.
Two other major benefits of these colonies are that they would not only allow for the mining of Jupiter's other moons, which are expected to contain element such as uranium, but the presence of such significant subsurface oceans could potentially contain the beginnings of extraterrestrial life which would present unmatched research opportunities and be of immense historical significance.
Saturn
The second gas giant in our solar system Saturn shares the same issues as Jupiter with colonising it directly but is far more appealing for the establishment of large scale facilities in orbit than the latter due to the presence of both helium-3 and deuterium in the planets atmosphere as well as it's lower gravitational pull and radiation making the building and maintaining of such a facility far simpler.
However much like Jupiter there is also a possible site for a full colony among Saturn's moons but this one is far more promising than even most other planets discussed. Titan is slightly larger than Mercury and is one of the only celestial body in our solar system other than Earth and Venus to possess an atmosphere, one which is actually closer to Earths atmosphere than Venus' both in pressure and makeup, consisting of 98.4% nitrogen and 1.4% methane compared to Earth's 78.1% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. This combined with the presence of sizeable quantities of water ice (with more constantly being introduced due to the cryovolcanoes on the nearby moon of Enceladus ejecting it into Titan's atmosphere) and ample nitrogen methane and ammonia which can easily be used to produce fertiliser makes the establishment of a permanent colony both possible and attractive.
The main draw for colonising Titan is the abundance of useful resources that litter its surface, most notably oil, ethane, methane, propylene and many other liquid hydrocarbons, to the extent that much of the planet is taken up by massive lakes and seas of liquid methane all of which could easily be extracted and refined. Some secondary advantages of such a colony would be that could easily serve as a staging ground for the mining of Saturn's 82 other moons and even the planets iconic rings if worthwhile materials are found there, this is even more true as Titans combination of an atmosphere and relatively weak gravity essentially creates the ideal environment for a spaceport from which to launch and receive such mining trips as the atmosphere helps slow down approaching ships while using less energy and the weaker gravity results in the moons escape velocity being far lower as well as the potential construction of a space elevator. Another potential advantage of colonising Titan is that the moons extremely cold nature (-290 degrees Fahrenheit or -179 degrees Celsius) would allow for extremely increased efficiency of industrial and perhaps more importantly computational systems as the maximum temperatures of such systems on both ends of the spectrum would be more extreme than on Earth and excess heat could be radiated into Titans atmosphere without heating the planet overly much due to just how cold it is. The construction of such massive and efficient computational facilities would also be made easier by the large quantities of silicates in Titans core.
Perhaps the best location for an initial colony on Titan would be an underground or otherwise contained settlement on the coast of Kraken Mare, the largest body of liquid on the moon and slightly larger than the Caspian Sea, in order to have access to the largest possible amount of liquid methane for both resource extraction and liquid cooling of any computational facilities. Such a colony could be powered in any number of ways, of course it could utilise a Cold Engine to take advantage of Titans freezing surface but it would also be completely viable to use chemical power plants due to the sheer availability of them and tidal power thanks to the large nearby seas with waves of up to a meter high thanks to Saturns gravity.
Note: Many scientists believe that Titan is the most likely celestial body in our solar system to contain life or one day do so as due to the combination of it possessing an atmosphere, having large liquid bodied and many more of the foundational building blocks of life, as a result any attempted colonisation would have to take this possibility into account and should not be attempted until a clearer answer to this question is provided.****
Uranus
Uranus' circumstances are largely identical to the previous two planets discussed, it's lack of an actual inhabitable surface precludes the establishment of a proper Uranian colony and the main benefit of the planet is also the extraction of helium-3, methane and other hydrocarbons but is unique so far in that it is an ice giant rather than a gas giant hitch means much of its atmosphere consists of water ice and it having the lowest escape velocity of any gas giant in our solar system.
Due to these unique features it is most likely that the best way to colonise Uranus would not be establishing a full fledged colony on one of its moons like previous gas giants but rather a larger space station in orbit of the planet or even in the atmosphere itself where colonists could live and work due to its weaker gravity, lesser radiation, abundance of nearby ice water and lesser escape velocity allowing mining ships and drones and other vessels to enter and leave the planet more easily.
If we were adamant on establishing a permanent ground facility on one of Uranus' moons, presumably for the purposes of providing those on the orbital station alternate accommodation, serving as a base for mining other Uranian moons and/or as a refinery for those elements harvested elsewhere, the best option would most likely be Uranus' largest moon Titania as its orbit is both still inside the planets magnetosphere which protects it from harmful solar radiation but also far enough away from Uranus itself to not be affected by what little radiation it does emit. Titania is also the best choice due to the presence of large deposits of ice water and some research suggesting the existence of a layer of liquid Earth at the core-mantle boundary. Such a colony would be built using mostly the same methods utilised on Luna but would face the additional issue that Titania is tidally locked to Uranus which results in its days and nights both lasting 42 Earth years, the best way around this short of a lsrger scale terraforming project would be the utilisation of Atlantean Artificial Sunlight Lamps to light the long night and shuttered domes to block out the sun.
Neptune
The second ice giant in our solar system many of the previously discussed aspects of Uranus also apply to Neptune whose main benefit of colonisation would also be the harvesting of resources such as helium-3, hydrogen, acetylene, helium and many other useful gasses. Something more unique to Neptune however is that among the many layers of storms and clouds made up of various gasses is diamond rain with some studies suggesting that the entire top layer of the planets mantle is made up of liquid carbon with large diamond islands floating on top of it.
While it has been suggested that the best way to fully take advantage of such a large planet with so many layers of gasses to harvest would be the construction of an orbital ring with so called "chandelier cities" hanging from it reaching into the various layers designed to sway with the extreme winds and support expeditions further down this is not feasible for an initial colonisation, rather our focus moor that should be on Neptune's largest moon Triton.
While Neptune has fourteen moons Triton is far and away the largest and most notable of them, making up 99.5% of the mass orbiting Neptune by itself, and although the surface is believed to mostly be made up of nitrogen ice there are still vast quantities of water ice present and is even suspected of possessing its own subsurface ocean , meaning there is no shortage of water for a potential colony. Triton is also notable for having its own atmosphere, almost entirely made up of nitrogen, and troposphere which results in the creation of nitrogen clouds and high winds, potentially allowing for the harvesting of nitrogen and use of wind power respectively.
Ultimately while there are some useful resources on Triton the primary motivation for colonising it is simply as a base of operations for mining Neptune's other moons and harvesting the resources of the planet itself. Perhaps the best location for said base would be northwest of Leviathan Patera, the second largest cryovolcano in the solar system, as it is directly connected to two huge cryolava lakes that are believed to consist of ice water which if included in a dome and heated up would be the only stable bodies of surface liquid water outside of Earth. The most effective methods of powering this facility would of course be the Cold Engine supported by wind power to take advantage of the local weather.
Pluto
The smallest planet in our solar system, with some recent scientists arguing that it should instead be classified as a dwarf planet, as well as the furthest out from the sun Pluto is unique for a variety of reasons, firstly while every other planet in the solar system possesses a purely elliptical orbit Pluto's is slightly inclined meaning that its orbit takes it slightly under and above the rest of the solar system at different points, with it actually being closer to the sun than Neptune at a certain point. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Pluto is that not only is its largest moon Charon, which is approximately an eighth the size of Pluto, tidally locked to it but Pluto is actually also tidally locked to Charon with the barycenter (The point that a celestial body orbits around, typically inside the planet for their moons) actually being approximately halfway between Pluto and Charon, leading some scientists to argue that they should be classified as the first known binary planets.
Pluto's surface is made up of 98% nitrogen ice with most of the remaining two percent being methane and carbon monoxide and water ice making up several mountains on the planets surface, it is also thought that it is possible that Pluto possesses another subsurface ocean with a silicate core beneath it. Pluto also possesses an atmosphere of approximately the same makeup of its surface which when exposed to the suns rays can result in react, becoming more complex compounds like ethane, ethylene and heavier hydrocarbons which then slowly precipitate on the planets surface. Conversely Charon's surface consists almost entirely of water ice with large quantities of cryovolcanoes as well as cryogeysers.
While these materials are useful the main purpose of colonising either Pluto or Charon would be as a staging point for larger excavations of Pluto's other moons to begin with and the rest of the Kuiper down the line as well as an important spaceport for any theoretical interstellar expeditions. The best locations for such a colony would most likely currently be the Sputnik Planitia due to it possessing a large amount of nitrogen ice for harvesting but also being relatively nearby several water ice mountains such as Hillary and Norgay Montes. However, ideally one day we would be able to take advantage of Pluto and Charon's unique situation tandem construct a space elevator that connects the two in order to create the most efficient system possible.
Final Note: After careful consideration Mr. Luthor's suggestion that the first permanent extraterrestrial colony be named "Lexington" was met with unanimous approval by this committee as it's meaning of "Town of the new law" would be extremely fitting for the circumstances.
With regards, the SpaceLex Committee for the Analysis and Research of Extraterrestrial Development (S.C.A.R.E.D).
* None of which I am so if I messed up something in spite of how much research I put into this please forgive me.
** Obviously we know OOC that Martians exist or at the very least did but IC the most reason information we got was that satellites picked up stuff that suggested they might.
*** Again OOC we know that Mister Mind is from Venus but IC nobody else knows that plus we don't know if he's the only one of his kind and in some versions he's even from a different universes version of Venus.
**** I included this not just because it's true but also because one of the few recurring characters throughout DC from a planet in our solar system that isn't Mars or Mister Mind is Jemm, Son of Saturn.
So yeah
@King crimson, this is a thing. My most recent random obsession I haven't been able to get out of my head is what we'll be able to do once we have a stronger grasp on space travel and how beneficial it would be for us so I decided to try and actually do something to get those thoughts out of my head the past few days and it turned into this. I think I put more research and time writing into this than some of my university work, now if you'll excuse me it's like 4 AM and I'm going to bed.
