Major advancements in science and technology have allowed humanity to achieve the seemingly impossible. After going to the moon, Mars is next on the agenda. SpaceX and NASA, along with several other corporations, are already developing the technology to make an expedition to the red planet. Though most experts agree that sending humans to Mars is a good idea, not all of them believe that we should.
So far, the population of Mars consists entirely of robots. It might be more beneficial to send humans instead as humans will be able to make faster decisions, without relying on the commands of scientists another planet away. What may take a rover several days to analyze, a human can study in hours. These rovers can perform a lot of tasks for us, but they lack crucial insight, lifetime experience, and decision making skills people do.
However, space is a very dangerous place for humans, especially space radiation which can cause brain damage and cancer. Since Mars lacks a thick atmosphere and magnetosphere like Earth’s, they will be more exposed to it. Not only that, but Thomas Jestin’s “Why we shouldn’t send humans to Mars”, an article against human exploration of Mars, points out the fact that humans will have no choice but to bring along numerous microbes from Earth. There will be no way around it, as there are more microbes on an individual's body than there are body cells. Whether it leaks from a habitat’s airlock, a potential crash, or a spacesuit designed to leak air at the joints to allow for movement, it will find a way out from our baggage to the Martian atmosphere. Microbes are the most resilient organisms we know, and recent studies have revealed that some can withstand extreme temperatures, near vacuum conditions, and prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation. This, and in combination with Mars’s large dust storms, will allow them to reach almost any point on its surface. If these microbes were to form habitats, and recent studies in simulating Mars’s conditions have shown that they certainly can, the microbes and potential Mars life would get mixed and muddle research.
Even with these inevitable consequences of sending humans to Mars, should we continue? What if Earth’s microbes outcompetes the potential of Martian life forms and exterminates an entire species before humanity even discovers it? What are your thoughts?
Humans are not ready to colonize Mars. If humans colonize Mars, they would only be spreading our culture of hatred, war, and destruction. The countries of Earth fight and murder one another for resources that could be exchanged peacefully. Humans would die to preserve their prejudices. The struggles that arise when colonizing Mars can be solved. Professionals in these fields have extensively studied and theorized ways to overcome the challenges of planetary colonization. With the current state of the Earth, however, Mars would be a battleground. Humans would fight one another for potential resources. They would section off the planet and give it to the countries thirsting for interplanetary power. Colonization is also expensive. Humans would exploit one another to gain the monetary funds necessary to send their colonizers to Mars. Moreover, humans do not care for one planet, so they cannot begin to care for another. Humans pollute Earth's heaven, earth, and water. Humans spreading this culture of decimation would lead only to the suffering of another planet. In short, humans are not ready as a species to colonize other planets. Humans are not kind to one another, or to what they already have.
ReplyDelete