Colonizing Mars May Not Be the Best Solution to Help Humanity
12 March 2021
Before the rise of advanced technology, human missions to Mars, let alone rover missions, were unthinkable. However, with today’s scientific advancements, sending human explorers to Mars is possible. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, hopes to colonize Mars by 2024 (1). Many people might be taken aback by how soon this could happen. There are two approaches addressing how humans should act regarding Mars: conservation and colonization. Conservation aims to protect Mars from harm and human interference, while colonization aims to establish a permanent settlement and use Martian resources. Humanity should not colonize Mars now due to the lack of preparedness and lack of a substantial purpose; instead, we should focus our efforts on making life on Earth better and only study Mars for research purposes with conservation principles.
In the face of human extinction due to the Sun burning out, meteorites colliding with Earth, or natural extinction from Earth, colonizing extraterrestrial bodies seem to be the only way to save humanity (2). Mars has been the target for this initiative because of its proximity to the Earth. Furthermore, it contains many essential elements such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and ice (3). The planet also has potential for solar and wind energy due to its distance from the sun and its dust storms. Once settled on Mars, humanity can utilize Mars’s natural resources. Figure 1 shows what a possible Mars colony would look like.
Figure 1. Adapted from Choi, Charles (10): Possible million-person Mars city colony design proposed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX hopes to send people to Mars by 2024 and hopes to terraform Mars to make it more hospitable for humans.
Furthermore, there have already been ideas about how to transform Mars’s harsh environment into a hospitable place. This idea is called terraforming and would require the use of carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to heat up the planet to create a thicker atmosphere (4). Besides the practicality of colonizing Mars, many believe that colonizing Mars will unify humanity (5). Countries working together to send humans to Mars will lead to a more communal societal spirit and will bring about a sense of pride of being human (5; 4). For those who support the colonization of Mars, they believe that humans can fulfill their curious and adventurous spirit while also protecting humanity from extinction.
However, the prospect of colonizing Mars has been romanticized as humanity is not ready for such an undertaking. The utopian idea that everyone can be united under a mission to send humans to Mars is not ideal (6). While countries might have to work together for this endeavor, not every country has a means to contribute. This raises social and political issues and the question of who benefits from colonizing Mars and who can go. Additionally, while terraforming seems like an attainable goal, it would require thousands of years to change Mars’s atmosphere (4). Once terraformed, Mars can no longer be what it used to be. Humans might not be ready for the consequences of a permanently changed planet as seen with humanity’s track record with the Earth. Humans have changed the Earth negatively by causing climate change and the ongoing Anthropocene extinction of other species (7). Moreover, our adventurers on the Earth during the “great” age of exploration from the fifteenth to seventeenth century involved “involved war, genocide, rape, murder, pillaging, mass disease transfer and slavery” (6). History has shown that human exploration brought harm to Earth, and it is likely that human exploration on Mars will bring harm to the planet as well. The notion that humanity can start over is naive and dangerous. Therefore, rather than focusing on a celestial body that is six months away from us, we are better off solving problems on the Earth (8). Our urge to colonize Mars is primarily motivated by the fear of death and ego (6). Humanity must not be manipulated by fear that would cause us to make bad decisions that have dire consequences. We must take a step back and focus on what we can control: the Earth. If we cannot protect our own planet from harm, we might make the same mistakes if we go to another.
Moreover, humans have a lack of a purpose and need to colonize Mars. While the motivation to save humanity is inspiring, there is no need to rush. There is around five billion years until the Sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the Earth, which gives us plenty of time to consider the consequences, risks, and prepare for such a journey (6). Furthermore, if the Sun swallows the Earth, it will also absorb Mars as well (8). This undermines the argument that humans must colonize Mars to prevent humanity extinction when the Sun engulfs Earth. Because Mars is inhospitable, there is also no economic reason for a city to be on Mars. On Earth, there are no cities in Antarctica because of its extreme weather. The only people on Antarctica are researchers (8). If Antarctica, which is much more habitable than Mars, does not have people living there, why should humans colonize Mars? The Martian environment consists of several biological hazards including harsh radiation exposure, temperature fluctuations, and lack of oxygen which inhibits life (9; 6). These conditions make it impossible for lifeforms to survive on the red planet. Studies have also shown that outer space has negative effects on human health, such as bone loss, fractures, and eye problems (6). It is not wise to colonize Mars before we can address the life-threatening conditions of space travel and on Mars. Therefore, there is no point in colonizing a planet where it would be difficult to survive and travel to. Additionally, human missions to Mars have a lack of support and funding from the public and government (8; 5). In a July 2019 Pew Research Center report, sixty-three percent of Americans believe that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should focus its efforts to monitor the Earth, while only eighteen percent of people support a crewed mission to Mars (8). With Mars’s extreme environment and lack of public support, humans should focus their attention on improving Earth’s conditions rather than rush a colonization effort to Mars.
Overall, humans should not aim to colonize Mars in the present day. Humans lack preparation and purpose to send humans to colonize Mars. Therefore, any human interference with Mars as of today should only be in the form of rovers and for scientific purposes. As former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said, the legacy of space exploration “should not be more meaningless new goals and arbitrary deadlines” (8). Although sending humans to Mars and interplanetary travel sounds impressive, we should not focus on something that we have limited information and preparation for. Humans should use knowledge from scientific research on Mars to learn more about the solar system and Earth to take responsibility for Earth’s concerns, such as the environment. We must act on the sole planet we know to be able to harbor life and not abandon it to go to another planet that is entirely inhospitable.
References:
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- Worrall, Simon. “There’s Only One Way For Humanity to Survive. Go To Mars.” National Geographic, National Geographic, 3 March 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/there-s-only-one-way-for-humanity-to-survive–go-to-mars-
- Zubrin R (2021) The Case for Colonizing Mars, by Robert Zubrin|National Space Society. Spacenssorg. Available at: https://space.nss.org/the-case-for-colonizing-mars-by-robert-zubrin/ [Accessed February 26, 2021].
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- Marino, L. (2019) Humanity is not prepared to colonize Mars. Futures 110: 15-18.
- Jaramillo, Antonia. “On a planet where you cannot breathe, is living on Mars the best idea?” USA Today, USA Today, 30 December 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2020/12/30/colonizing-mars-even-good-idea-you-cant-breathe-after-all/4091010001/
- Hassler, D. (2014) Mars’ Surface Radiation Environment Measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover. Science, 343(6169): 1244797-1244797.
- Choi, Charles. “How to Feed a Mars Colony of 1 Million People.” Space.com, Space.com, 18 September, 2019, https://www.space.com/how-feed-one-million-mars-colonists.html