That sounds very similar to an analysis I heard about the stupid car tunnel system hype, and how proposed California rail development was effectively trashed.
@davidho.bsky.social The whole idea is absurd. I've written about this a fair bit over the years. It was just a scam to keep federal funding flowing to the most successful confidence trickster of all time. Getting a couple of people there safely would be a logistical nightmare. A viable […]
I hope we don't try until well after we've gotten as much scientific study as we can of Mars' environment; planetary protection protocols should be enforced stringently.
And there are enough engineering challenges to make any attempt at least a few lifetimes out.
The original theory was to work out the problems of space colonisation. In a few billion years, if humans survive until then, the Sun will grow to the point of burning Earth to a crisp. So the ultra long term view would be to find an exoplanet, practising with Mars.
The timescales involved are so huge that we have no idea what future needs will look like. We may not live that long. We may prefer directly settling space. We may translate our mental patterns into a new substrate.
It's not a convincing argument to do anything with Mars now, given the current understanding and technology but without a goal, nobody would seek that understanding or tech.
Why speak in absolutes lol. It's extremely unlikely for it to happen in the near term, but that does not mean " never" and yes I am aware of what it takes to get there and agree that funding on things on earth are more pressing than trying to get off of it, but beware of thinking in absolutes
CMEs are the big danger while travelling in interplanetary space. Or on the moon (during lunar day). Mars’ atm is thin but at 300kg/m2 would provide a lot of protection from charged particles. So not terribly different than what is experienced on the ISS.
Again there are lots of reasons going to Mars makes no sense. But there isn’t one show stopper, more of lots of individually manageable problems adding up to big problems.
More chance on Europa or even finding a way to geo-engineer Venus to a more habitable or, just spitballing, look inward and we stop screwing up Biosphere1.
Stop worrying about skyfairies and the bogey man of "civilisation collapse", just try to be good guardians of the planet for the future.
If there is any hope at all for mankind now it is to persuade Trump, Musk and all their Marching Morons to board giant spaceships to take them all to the garden paradise that is Mars.
I highly recommend "A City on Mars." The authors thought they were pro Mars settlement before they started doing research, but after they learned about the physical, biological, environmental, economic, social, legal, and psychological challenges, they realized what a monumentally bad idea it is.
We don't need 5 new copies of our planet, and Mars is incredibly hostile to life as we know it, with costs per person far higher than here. Start with imagining building a city at the South Pole, and then imagine it being several times harder than that.
Then we need to consume 2/3 less asap and stop reproducing asap. But since nobody is talking about this and many more are talking about Mars, SRM, CDR, EVs and RE...🤷♀️
Comments
I hope we don't try until well after we've gotten as much scientific study as we can of Mars' environment; planetary protection protocols should be enforced stringently.
And there are enough engineering challenges to make any attempt at least a few lifetimes out.
A permanent scientific presence? Sure. A real colony? I see no real benefit.
That will make attempting to live on it's surface awkward.
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2018/06/aa32934-18/aa32934-18.html
"One of the largest hazards for astronauts traveling to Mars will be overcoming exposure to high energy radiation"
https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical/stories/van-allen-belts/
Again there are lots of reasons going to Mars makes no sense. But there isn’t one show stopper, more of lots of individually manageable problems adding up to big problems.
But the inability of people to give up on this disproven hypothesis bugs me.
Stop worrying about skyfairies and the bogey man of "civilisation collapse", just try to be good guardians of the planet for the future.
If there is any hope at all for mankind now it is to persuade Trump, Musk and all their Marching Morons to board giant spaceships to take them all to the garden paradise that is Mars.
https://bsky.app/profile/nonviolence.bsky.social/post/3ljpg6s3vzk2x
We also don't really know much of *anything* about dealing with the regolith/dust
Also, there's absolutely no chance that colonization on Mars can exist without life on Earth so ... what's the point?
How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292924000493