Is it possible to colonize planets smaller than Earth?

Question

Because any gravity lower than that of Earth is not good for the Human body but I just want to know what you think.

Answer 1

Mars is still a cool place to start

Answer 2

yes. there doesn't have to be ANY gravity at all, but we'd have to exercise constantly to keep our bones strong or else they would begin to deteriorate

Answer 3

If all other conditions are OK, yea it's possible.

Low gravity isn't harmful to us, it just makes it difficult for our way of life.

Answer 4

  Colonizing anywhere other than Earth will cause physical problems in some form or another,our bodies are designed to operate under these conditions (Earth's)

Answer 5

Right now it's not possible to colonize any other planets, so I suppose the answer would be no.

All else being equal, though, with the right atmosphere etc, a smaller planet would be perfectly acceptable to humans, although it could cause long term calcium loss.  That's assuming that the planet is low gravity due to smaller size.  It is possible to imagine a denser structure with earth normal gravity on a smaller planet.

But really, it's the breathing and eating that will kill us, not the low gravity.

Answer 6

Sure. We are developing methods to compensate for the bone mass and muscle loss due to low or zero gravity environments.

This is part of the daily routine on the ISS.

Answer 7

Gravity is a major problem, but another problem is over-population. If people crowd on this new planet, or industry crowds the new planet, then there will be a lot of problems. But I would imagine that the UN would decide on a certain amount of people being allowed to colonize on this planet, or people would have enough common sense not to over crowd it.

But you are right, the largest problem is the gravity change. Our bodies have evolved to the gravity on Earth. Any more or less gravity, and that balance would be upset. A low gravity environment specifically affects the cardiovascular, muscular, metabolic, and skeletal systems. Although a person can do find over a course of about 6 months, there are some major reprocussions over prolonged exposure to this environment. Low gravity causes the body to burn muscel, damaging the muscular system, and the heart. Remember that the heart is a muscel, too. It also will cause bones to become brittle, and weaken out ability to perform physical tasks which would be a major problem. It also has some serve effects on the metabolic/digestive system in our body. Our digestive system is used to gravity lending a helping hand in the process of digestion. Although it come prepared to low gravity environments, specifically by the smooth-muscle found in the esophogus, stomach, and intestines. A major problem comes when food enters the stomach. Although a low gravity environment won't make the food come back up the throat, the food isn't resting steadily on the stomach, thus making digestion take a lot longer, with less nutritional value.

But over a course of multiple generations on another planet, our bodies will learn to adapt to these changes in gravity. That is one of the problems with Mars-colonization. One remedy for some of these problems has shown to be well-dosed amounts of pure oxygen.

Answer 8

It's worth a try.  In fact, I think the lower gravity of Mars would be a perfect place for old people to retire.  Wouldn't it wear down their bodies less?