Can humans be trained to live in extremely low pressure?

Let's say that I want to colonize a planet which is basically like mars but has got an atmosphere which still has extremely low pressure but consists mainly of oxygen. The temperatures are more or less comfortable, ranging from -10*C to +20*C. The surface pressure is 6-7% of that on earth, with water boiling at 25-30*C.

No need to worry about radiation - either the star is a red dwarf or the planet has a strong magnetic field. Radiation is no more than 10 times bigger than on earth.

Now...I am actually Scrooge McDuck and I want to mine gold on the planet, but shipping air or compressing the air that is already there is too expensive.

Can I do the following?:

• Put the settlers in colony domes first. Let's say we start at 50% of sea level pressure, more or less comfortable.
• Start decreasing the air pressure slowly. Let's say the pressure decreases by 10% every month to allow adaptation.
• I will remove the Nitrogen from the air gradually
  • Because the atmosphere of the planet consists mainly of oxygen
  • To make the atmosphere more breathable, removing excess gases and replacing them with oxygen is a good idea, isn't it?
• I will continue doing this until I can effectively remove the dome.
• If required, the "weaning off" process can continue for several generations.
• Let's say I have chosen mainly people from the Andes and from the Himalayas for my project, so they are adapted to high altitude environments.

Is my idea good? If not very good, what should I consider changing? How quick should the decompression processes be? Can I grow plants and have livestock (himalayan sheep?) in such an environment? Can humans actually survive in that environment?

I assume that cooking by boiling, medical procedures, etc... will happen in pressurised chambers.

posted about 9 years ago

MedwedianPresident2‭

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