Why should humans go to Mars?

Frank Stratford ^ | 12/21/09 | Frank Stratford

[KevinDavis]

Why should humans go to Mars? Many reasons for and against have been cited over the years, and many still struggle to see the relevance of this priority. It seems so far out, so detached from life on Earth, and in many ways it is. Mars is physically hundreds of millions of kilometers away. It is colder than the coldest environment on Earth and it has an atmosphere—or lack thereof—that would kill you within thirty seconds or do in a most unpleasant fashion. Compared to terrestrial destinations it loses hands down. However, we need to look at Mars in a different context.

[John McDonnell]

"The Hermitage" by Edward Rowland Sill, written in 1866, was first published in The Hermitage and Other Poems in 1868. The first landing of men on the Moon was in 1969. Did the following passage from "The Hermitage" have an influence on naming the first lunar module? "The Eagle has landed!" It seems remarkable that the phrase "to tread the desolate moon" was written 103 years before it became a reality. And notice the reference to Mars.

However small the present creature man, —
Ridiculous imitation of the gods,
Weak plagiarism on some completer world, —
Yet we can boast of that strong race to be.
The savage broke the attraction which binds fast
The fibres of the oak, and we to-day
By cunning chemistry can force apart
The elements of the air. That coming race
Shall loose the bands by which the earth attracts;
A drop of occult tincture, a spring touched
Shall outwit gravitation; men shall float,
Or lift the hills and set them down where they will.
The savage crossed the lake, and we the sea.
That coming race shall have no bounds or bars,
But, like the fledgeling eaglet, leave the nest, —
Our earthly eyrie up among the stars, —
And freely soar, to tread the desolate moon,
Or mingle with the neighbor folk of Mars.
Yea, if the savage learned by sign and sound
To bridge the chasm to his fellow's brain,
Till now we flash our whispers round the globe,
That race shall signal over the abyss
To those bright souls who throng the outer courts
Of life, impatient who shall greet men first
And solve the riddles that we die to know.

[Frantzie]

No I did not know. LOL! Rutan is a really cool guy. He is a real pioneer.

[Frantzie]

Well when we had a sensible country run by fairly sane and responsible people NASA made sense. The country is bankrupt.

I see America heading towards eastern Europe but it will be worse.

The fools will just keep watching balls games and will remain enslaved and TV does the job.

[buccaneer81]

Spoiled Boomers ruined this country in many ways. I'm disgusted to be one (although at the very tail end.)

Agree 100% about the Bread and Circus atmosphere of the past 20 years.

[marron]

The nation that masters the technologies of space travel will own the next century.

I hope its our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids.

Whoever it is, our descendents will be working for them.

[buccaneer81]

I’m making sure my son takes Chinese in high school. For real.

[Notary Sojac]

The biggest problem I see is that for the last 25 years "manned space exploration" has consisted of flying over and over into LEO so that the "explorers" can twist some bolts on another piece of orbital hardware, or push the button to start an experiment showing how earthworms have sex in zero-G.

Not that our astronauts don't have skill and guts, I admire them and would ride up there with them in a second.

But "exploration" it ain't.

[colorado tanker]

For the usual reasons men set out in voyages to unknown lands, for discovery, for knowledge, for treasure, to learn how to do interplanetary travel, which may lead to who knows what?

[buccaneer81]

But "exploration" it ain't.

You're absolutely right.

The forward momentum of the space program was killed by Nixon. If we had continued on with Apollo and then shifted into the next gear, we would have had a small (6 man) moonbase by 1985 and a manned Mars mission by 1995. After that, the future would have been wide open.

[FreeperFlirt]

get away from obama 4sure!

[Dem Guard]

I respect your view. I think you can also see how many applications in computer technology, software, communications, medicine, flight, and defense have been developed without being attributed directly to space travel. This is why I believe the benefits from space travel have been a bit over stated in mho.

[familyop]

"Why should humans go to Mars?"

To get away from their ex-es.

[KevinDavis]

Also people like Fritz Mondale...

[skimask]

"Why Should We Go To Mars"

To visit Dennis Kucinich(sic) and his wife on his mother ship.

[GeronL]

No liberals.

Political correctness would get you killed.

[Professional Engineer]

Because it’s there.

[Habibi]

“There’s always one of your type on every space thread. It gets old really fast.”

Make that two...so far. This business of “space exploration” is not an endeavor without monetary cost. If it is public funds that are funding the “party”, there needs to be a credible case made for the cost/benefit ratio. Sorry, it’s still a bean-counter world, since that’s what we pay our taxes in. You (should) have to make a case that the economic benefits at least match the cost. It’s not like you’re talking about “the common defense”. Even health care has a better cost/benefit ratio than going to Mars (as cool as that certainly sounds). Coolness is a little harder to sell these days, at the beginning of an economic winter.

“It gets old real fast.”

You should expect no less on a Libertarian site like this one. Perhaps a site that is less emotionally trying would help. That, or growing some “alligator skin”. You find a lot of big kids on this playground. It would behoove all of us to be a bit more tolerant of other people’s ideas on a public forum.

[buccaneer81]

a Libertarian site like this one.

You might want to run that one past Jim Robinson...

[Flag_This]

"Why should humans go to Mars?"

Because one day the the great "Reset" button is going to be pushed for earth by way of an asteroid or some other event. It might be a good idea for humanity to have a few other options available when that inevitably occurs.

[buccaneer81]

You should expect no less on a Libertarian site like this one. Perhaps a site that is less emotionally trying would help. That, or growing some “alligator skin”. You find a lot of big kids on this playground. It would behoove all of us to be a bit more tolerant of other people’s ideas on a public forum.

You sound like a typical lib...tolerance is a one way street with you.

Oh, love your screen name; looks good enough to get you into a White House dinner these days.