Eli5: What are the main things holding humanity back when it comes to being able to Terraform a planet or other large celestial objects in space?

Question

Eli5: What are the main things holding humanity back when it comes to being able to Terraform a planet or other large celestial objects in space?

In: 14

Answer 1

Terraforming a planet requires two things: resources and time.

The resources part is difficult because no matter what planet you pick, we would need to not only bring a lot of stuff *to* the celestial body, we’d also have to remove a lot of stuff *from* the celestial body. That consumes a *lot* of energy.

The time part is another issue, as it would most likely be measured in millions or even *billions* of years, meaning the entire project would have to be capable of enduring hundreds of thousands of generations of humans and the inevitable political and social changes those humans would face throughout the years.

Answer 2

Terraforming a planet requires two things: resources and time.

The resources part is difficult because no matter what planet you pick, we would need to not only bring a lot of stuff *to* the celestial body, we’d also have to remove a lot of stuff *from* the celestial body. That consumes a *lot* of energy.

The time part is another issue, as it would most likely be measured in millions or even *billions* of years, meaning the entire project would have to be capable of enduring hundreds of thousands of generations of humans and the inevitable political and social changes those humans would face throughout the years.