Life on asteroids : Is it Possimpible?

"The surface area of Elsevere is only three quarters that of the State of New York, but that’s irrelevant. Remember, we can occupy, if we wish, the entire interior of Elsevere. A sphere of 50 miles radius has a volume of well over half a million cubic miles. If all of Elsevere were occupied by levels 50 feet apart, the total surface area within the planetoid would be 56,000,000 square miles, and that is equal to the total land area of Earth. And none of these square miles, Doctor, would be unproductive.” 

-Councillor Elvis Blei, 

"Strikebreaker", by Isaac Asimov

In the year 1957, Asimov not only gave humanity an idea of how it is possible to terraform asteroids, but also how to exist in them. That was not the only story in SF towards the colonization of asteroids during that time. In fact, from around 1960's these ideas have been cropping up in many famous stories and movies. For example, in the adventures of Lucky Starr and Pirates of the Asteroids, Uncle Scrooge (Island in the sky, March 1960), X-Men comics (Asteroid M in X-Men #5,1964), and of course, Futurama, the humans(or intelligent life-forms) have managed to create a habitat on/in asteroids.

So, scientifically speaking, is it possible to exist on/in asteroids? Well, it does have its own advantages, and disadvantages.

Advantages :

• Low gravity - Any construction work, equipment, and movement will be a lot more easier to handle than here on earth, or even moon. That means, everything that needs to be manufactured for supporting life on an asteroid, can be structurally weak(cheap) and still be good.
• High-quality minerals - Minerals which are quite difficult to obtain on earth, like platinum, tungsten, etc. might be easily available on asteroids. The occupation pays for itself!
• Large number of sites - If a base is created on one large asteroid, all you need to do is travel to nearby asteroids and collect minerals or establish a base, which, frankly, is the easiest part.
• Scientific Research - The need of low gravity environments for research in areas like Materials engineering would be very easy.
• Adventure - There are always people volunteering to do dangerous stuff for the thrill of it. Adrenaline pumping adventure would be the first thing on the list for any human being brave(or mental) enough to volunteer for helping establish a base on an asteroid. Of course, he/she would also need to scientifically and technologically sound.

Disadvantages :

• Low gravity - Humans are not(yet) adapted to live in low gravity conditions. So, either artificial gravity, or adaptation is necessary, to survive for extended periods on an asteroid.
• Fuel - Even in the asteroid belt, the Sun is too far to provide adequate energy for extraction of minerals, let alone conducting scientific research. Unless a way is found to harness energy efficiently from the Sun, or Laser power beaming (Wireless Electricity) becomes advanced enough to transfer energy to large distances, fuel(the lack of it) remains a big drawback.
• Radiation Hazards - A permanent colony on any asteroid would definitely need to perfect a technology to mimic Earth's Ozone Layer, magnetosphere, and ionosphere, to survive outside space suits. 
• Spatial Hazards - Moon's distinct markings and craters reminds us that even though it looks beautiful when you see it 384,400 km from there, being on the receiving end is actually quite hazardous for health. This is when the moon is literally a planet away from the asteroid belt. Being on the asteroid belt then, would obviously be even more dangerous.
• Food and Water - Organic life forms would definitely need sustenance to perform optimally. Of course, with studies showing that 5% water is present in an asteroid's crust, it might actually sound hopeful, but then, Earth is 71% water, and look where it has got us now. It would be possible to ship food and water from Earth or a Martian base, but the best bet would be recycling.

So the big question really is whether human technology is ready for getting human beings to an asteroid and getting them back alive. Well, that would depend on whether humans do actually have the spirit of cooperation to pool their resources on a scientific space odyssey for their own good and science's advancement or rather squabble meaninglessly over everyday issues on who gets to loot more oil, and who plays the big brother. If we do come to our collective senses, then yes, it would be very much possible.
And if this becomes a reality, the biggest winner would be us.

P.S: Wondering about the title, just click here!