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There is a lot of talk about colonizing mars (or other bodies in our solar system). What's the threshold to start talking about colonizing? What checkboxes have to be ticked to talk about colonialisazion?

Probably below threshold:

  • First humans land on a planetary body and return
  • A permanent base has be built which is not permanently inhabitet
  • A permanent base has been established and is permanently inhabited
  • We can do ISRU to get comsumables to not depend on deliveries from outside for consumables

That last point could maybe be a point wher we could start to talk about colonialisation.

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    $\begingroup$ Your question is about word definition, not space exploration. Dictionaries provide a wide range of definitions for "colonization" which include aspects such as dependence on originating society (relevant), but also subjugation of aboriginal people (irrelevant). $\endgroup$
    – Woody
    Commented Sep 3 at 14:43
  • $\begingroup$ SpaceX's goal is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, starting with Mars. They have a specific success criteria, which is "if the ships from Earth stop coming, can the colony stay healthy and sustain itself indefinitely?" Nobody knows what that takes, though. SpaceX has a very rough guesstimate of 1 million tons of payload to the Mars surface, but that's basically just a number they pulled out of thin air, that is probably within 1–2 orders of magnitude of the real number. $\endgroup$
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Commented Sep 3 at 19:01
  • $\begingroup$ @JörgWMittag by this definition, we can't even consider the continents here "colonized" because I think no single continent (much less, country) can live without imorting any good from outside sources... I'm not saying, this definition is wrong, but it's quite far reaching. $\endgroup$
    – TrySCE2AUX
    Commented Sep 4 at 9:07

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It may not be possible to colonize Mars. If reduced gravity creates serious problems during pregnancy and or child growth we may only ever be visitors rather than colonists. But if it is possible then the first child born and brought up on Mars might be a suitable marking point to declare that colonization had started.

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  • $\begingroup$ This question doesn't even mention Mars. $\endgroup$
    – Erin Anne
    Commented Sep 4 at 22:28
  • $\begingroup$ Except for "There is a lot of talk about colonizing mars" $\endgroup$
    – Slarty
    Commented Sep 4 at 22:48
  • $\begingroup$ Wow, I reread that multiple times and missed it every time. I'm an idiot. Sorry about that. $\endgroup$
    – Erin Anne
    Commented Sep 4 at 23:05
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    $\begingroup$ Oh. That's an interesting point. I like that. Basically "as soon as you don't have to ship in people to replace the ones that die". Accepted. $\endgroup$
    – TrySCE2AUX
    Commented Sep 5 at 6:47

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