The author, George Dvorsky, writing in Gizmodo, describes humankind’s ambitions to colonize the Red Planet as “lofty,” yet without an appreciation of the challenges, sometimes intractable, that we will face. And yes, I will agree that going to Mars and setting up a colony is a monumental undertaking, but to say humans will never occupy Mars is not true.
As I wrote back in 2014, man has always thought of the red planet as being barren, dry and devoid of any useful resources. And while over half of all unmanned missions to Mars have been unsuccessful since the 1960s, we have found that Mars has an unusually vast store of resources, including water.
But resources are about the only thing Mars has going for it as a travel destination. The planet’s atmosphere is 100 times thinner than on Earth and the air on Mars is mostly made up of carbon dioxide. But worst of all, its thin atmosphere means it cannot retain surface heat.
The average temperature on Mars is -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius), with temperatures dropping as low as -195 degrees F (-126 degrees C). The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was on June 23, 1982, at Vostok Station in Antarctica. The temperature dipped to -128 degrees F (-89 degrees C).
Space, and particularly Mars, is an extreme alien environment and we could expect a plethora of health problems, from freezing to death to a proliferation of fungi — and alterations in our DNA to changes in our microbiome. And we can’t forget the higher doses of radiation we will be subjected to almost constantly without some sort of protection.
I’m an optimist and my cup is half-full
On September 27, 2016, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, speaking to a rapt audience at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, finally told the world about his company’s long-anticipated plans to colonize Mars.
Elon Musk and fellow commercial space entrepreneur Jeff Bezos are both dreamers, and as far as I am concerned, the world needs dreamers. Just like the Mars One project sparked my imagination, so too, have Musk and Bezos. Just imagine, if you will, a world without people who are audacious enough to have flights of fancy, dreams, ambitions and hope for the future.
Without dreamers, no one would have circumnavigated the globe, found the Northwest Passage or created a flying machine. Without technological advances, there would be no Three Gorges Dam, giant wind turbines or nuclear propulsion. So, yes, I am optimistic that humans are capable of colonizing the moon and Mars.
I remember well the day President John F. Kennedy, in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961, proclaimed a national goal of “landing a man on the Moon by the end of this decade and returning him safely to the Earth.” Kennedy’s goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module (LM) on July 20, 1969, and walked on the lunar surface.
But more than that, the Apollo program laid the foundation for NASA’s subsequent human spaceflight capability and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. More so, the program generated new technologies in rocketry and human spaceflight, including avionics, as well as advances in telecommunications, and computers.
And now, NASA is looking at returning to the Moon and going to Mars. And my cup is half-full with optimism that we will succeed. It may not be in my life because I am in my twilight years, but it is very possible that my grandchildren or their children will travel to Mars, and even live on the Red Planet.
Addressing the critics
I remember as a young girl going to the Saturday matinee at the local theater and seeing Flash Gordon films. Later in my life, I became a real Star Trek fan, and I still am a great fan of the series, even today. I know, all this is science fiction, right? But so was Robbie the robot on Lost in Space.
Imagination and solving problems go hand-in-hand with humankind’s creation of new technologies — and this is exactly what will get us to the Moon and Mars. It is our inquiring minds and intellect that will help us to solve problems like building the required infrastructure, finding safe and viable ways of sourcing food and water, mitigating the deleterious effects of radiation and low gravity and in general, creating a viable colony.
Bottom line? Yes, we have a long way to go, in some respects. However, humans have come a long way in our short time on Earth. We started out learning to make fire, tools and eventually, to farm. Now, we are looking beyond our planet and solar system, and I find that compelling and completely astounding.
