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Asked by rebeccablackrules to Alison, Artem, Caroline, John, Gunther on 20 Jun 2012.
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Artem Evdokimov answered on 20 Jun 2012:
Either planetary body has issues with supporting life. In both cases the conditions are far sub-optimal: wrong atmosphere (none on the Moon), too cold, wrong gravity, etc. etc. – in the balance of things I would say that Mars may be somewhat less difficult to convert into a life-bearing planet but still that would take tremendous efforts and technologies that we currently do not have…
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John Short answered on 20 Jun 2012:
I think from studies by NASA and the European Space Agency that Mars has more water than the moon, crucial for supporting life. mars also has more of an atmosphere and gravity due to it’s larger mass than the moon. Furthermore, Mars has a normal rotation as it orbits, i.e. all sides of Mars gain “equal” access to the Sun, whereas because of the way the moon orbits the Earth as the Earth orbits the sun, this is not the case.
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Matt Gunther answered on 20 Jun 2012:
I would argue that, all things considered, Mars would arguably be the more hospitable planet to sustain life on. NASA are, in fact, currently researching methods of engineering colonial facilities on Mars, so astronauts could possibly live on the planet for extended periods.
Remember, the moon’s gravitational pull (severely low) is completely different to that of Mars (which is approximately 1/2 of the Earth’s). The fact there is evidence to suggest water may once have been prominent on it is surely a good sign also.
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