You and I are on the same page when it comes to colonizing nonsterile planets…but even if they’re completely, utterly sterile, they still have to meet a host of other non-negotiable qualifications e.g. stability of the star, composition of the atmosphere, and so forth. Unless we are able to develop true planetary-scale terraforming technology, we’re not going to successfully thrive on other planets.

So when it comes to space, I not only think that living in space is doable, but it’s our only real option if humankind is going to leave its dirtside crib. Sure, we can colonize Mars…but only if we use domes.

But we can live and thrive in space…and doing so frees us as a species from being hidebound to rocky planets. I go deeper into how this is not just possible but is approaching inevitability in this article. You may be particularly interested in a discussion I had with Allan Milne Lees in the response section. He took the position that humanity would be highly unlikely to tolerate living their lives out in “tin cans”, and I took the opposite view.