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Ed Regis writes in the New York Times that today we an witnessing an outburst of enthusiasm over the literally outlandish notion that in the relatively near future, some of us are going to be living, working, thriving and dying on Mars. But unfortunately Mars mania reflects an excessively optimistic view of what it actually takes to travel to and live on Mars, papering over many of the harsh realities and bitter truths that underlie the dream. "First, there is the tedious business of getting there. Using current technology and conventional chemical rockets, a trip to Mars would be a grueling, eight- to nine-month-long nightmare for the crew," writes Regis. "Tears, sweat, urine and perhaps even solid waste will be recycled, your personal space is reduced to the size of an SUV., and you and your crewmates are floating around sideways, upside down and at other nauseating angles." According to Regis every source of interpersonal conflict, and emotional and psychological stress that we experience in ordinary, day-to-day life on Earth will be magnified exponentially by restriction to a tiny, hermetically sealed, pressure-cooker capsule hurtling through deep space and to top it off, despite these constraints, the crew must operate within an exceptionally slim margin of error with continuous threats of equipment failures, computer malfunctions, power interruptions and software glitches.
But getting there is the easy part says Regis. "Mars is a dead, cold, barren planet on which no living thing is known to have evolved, and which harbors no breathable air or oxygen, no liquid water and no sources of food, nor conditions favorable for producing any. For these and other reasons it would be accurate to call Mars a veritable hell for living things, were it not for the fact that the planet's average surface temperature is minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit." These are only a few of the many serious challenges that must be overcome before anyone can put human beings on Mars and expect them to live for more than five minutes says Regis. "The notion that we can start colonizing Mars within the next 10 years or so is an overoptimistic, delusory idea that falls just short of being a joke."
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @11:03AM
Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater. You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @01:23PM
I have reason to believe that at the base of this magma pool are untold riches and knowledge for mankind. I advocate we dive in an swim down to check. Sure, the ignorant naysayers will advise against it because it may be dangerous to come in contact with the magma, but they are small-minded people with little imagination. We should keep sending down divers to try; they would truly be heroes for their sacrifice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @03:38PM
What a ridiculous false analogy. However you're right, there are untold riches in the earth's mantle - diamonds, gold, platinum, silver, uranium, you name it - however everything but the diamonds are molten, and they're all mixed in with lots of other molten rocks and metals, making finding them a giant task itself, not to mention the insane pressures and temperatures that must be tolerated to even get down to the mantle. Space is a much easier problem to tackle - all you need is an enclosed box with radiation shielding, which only needs to withstand 1 atmosphere of pressure from the inside and external temperatures of maybe only a few hundred kelvin, depending where you're going, then you only need to build the box big enough to hold everything you need. Compared to building something that can withstand a planet's internal temperatures and pressures, this is a simple task.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @04:46PM
Well, clearly you are one of the small-minded people with little imagination. We should choose to go into the Earth's core because its hard. Do you think the New World would ever have been discovered if we didn't send ships over the horizon? How do you expect the human race to ever get off the surface of the Earth? (I think I've got my "Soylent Mars Bingo" card filled out now, but I might be short. Probably should throw in a "those who give up liberty for security" quote just to cover my bases.).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @03:58PM
Thanks for that Christopher Eccleston.