3 ms·
I can't speak for cryptoz, but here are some reasons why people might want to move to Mars: 1. It sure does sound like a lot of fun! And dangerous! And thrilli
by troymc 13y ago
I can't speak for cryptoz, but here are some reasons why people might want to move to Mars:
1. It sure does sound like a lot of fun! And dangerous! And thrilling!
2. Fame and glory
3. The chance to explore and directly experience a place no other human has ever been.
4. The opportunity to stake a claim on some new land (and find out what that means). Maybe form a new government! Make new laws... I can see this being quite attractive for groups that feel stifled by Earth (e.g. religious groups, the far left, the far right).
5. The chance to spread humanity to a self-sustained place beyond Earth, as a backup (albeit a fragile one at first).
You're right that Mars would not be a nice place to live, especially in the early days, but that's not why people would go!
- mikeash 13y agoRegarding #5, what kind of disaster does Mars provide a backup for that, say, a self-reliant colony at the South Pole on Earth does not?
- nawitus 13y agoAsteroid impact, global nuclear war etc.?
- mikeash 13y agoA self-sufficient Antarctic colony should be able to survive those just fine.
- rbanffy 13y agoIt depends on the size of the asteroid and on a deliberate choice not to target the colony with a nuclear weapon. I'd prefer a self-sustaining colony on the Moon before attempting Mars. There we can perfect our tools because, on Mars, if you screw up, you'll have to wait at least six months for your rescue mission.
- vitno 13y agoactually, it would be way more complex to establish a self-sufficient colony on the moon. The moon lacks a lot of basic resources that mars provides, albeit in different ratios than earth does.
- rbanffy 13y agoThe Moon and Mars are very different worlds, but there are many reasons, local resources excepted, building a Moon colony should be easier. Lower gravity, no atmosphere and abundant solar energy should make metallurgy easy. The 3 light-second RTT may make telerobotics viable and allow some construction workers to have short commutes and to sleep at their homes.
- el_zorro 13y agoHowever, the lack of any hydrology on the surface of the moon means that ore veins will no exist, at least not at any level of purity that would warrant extraction. On Earth and Mars, running water has sorted minerals for us. The only thing you could really consistently 'mine' is He3 for fusion powerplants that don't yet exist, and oxygen + silicon/iron/calcium from the regolith. Hydrogen will have to be imported if anything useful is to be made, and it is cheaper to send hydrogen from Mars than it is to send it from Earth (if you can stand to wait a few months from shipment to delivery).