West Island College Calgary-Alberta Canada 14 years old 2 / 2 English Mercury
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, 1895. Figuring out a way to colonize Mercury had many challenges. Considering its harsh conditions and extreme temperatures, it seemed almost impossible to imagine human life thriving on it. Through thorough research and creative choices, we implemented these features in our diorama to overcome these challenges. To colonize Mercury, we must live underground to protect us from the sun’s radiation. We have a farm to grow our food that gets its water from the fish tank. The dirt for our farm is charged carbon so that it is lighter to transport. The fish are a source of vitamin B12 because that is the only vitamin you cannot get from plants. We have a water sanitation facility to reuse used water and to clean the water from the ice at the craters. We have a hospital to treat injured people. We have an entertainment facility so that people do not get to bored. In that entertainment facility, we have a gym for people to work out in. Everyone will live in condominiums where there will be enough to support a family of 4, and there are some individual condominiums. Above the surface, we have a rover station to repair our solar panels if they get broken. The rovers can also get repaired by the other rovers, so there is no need for humans to leave the underground colony. The air pressure is safe for humans, but we will have to import oxygen until the dishes of cyanobacteria and the plants can replace the oxygen. We will have to have a constant heater so that we do not freeze to death, so we will have a bunch of small heaters scattered around the colony to keep us warm. We will be sheltered from radiation by the crater and the fact that we are underground. Everyone will have to have weighted clothing and an exercise routine to combat the microgravity. Though colonizing Mercury has been a tough project, we have thought of many ways to provide an environment where human life can live and thrive without outside support. As our society evolves, we begin to outgrow the sort of cradle that is earth and reach farther beyond its limits we find so many new opportunities awaiting us.
