Science and Society

Risking one's life for the adventure, or for the glory of the regiment, on this planet is daunting enough. One has at least a chance for survival if the voyage is terminated. At least, one can breathe the air and fish the sea and forage on land for food. On Mars, it's another story: no breathable air, no water and no food. A mishap there is the end for the explorer. But, for those willing to take the chance, it would definitely be the experience of a lifetime.

I don't think it's worth it for several reasons. First, you would end up turning religious fundamentalists and the 'pro-life' movement against NASA. They would paint this as a voluntary, state-sponsored suicide. Terri Schiavo was a country pumpkin juding contest compared the circus this could become.

Secondly, robots can do the job until man is ready to go in 30+ years. Now, if it was a one way suicide mission to a planet in another solar system that might have life? Maybe I'd support that but the potential gain from a mars mission doesnt seem worth an explicit suicide.

i dont think suicide its the proper term... unless you want to look it that way. Its the heart of the explorers... let them be... a thousand robots wont do as much as human there.

Hell yeah I'll go, where do I sign up. I'll be the country boy to go with the 101st.

There is not a "hint" of danger in going to Mars with no return vessel. The person who takes that trip will certainly die. That said, it's a worthy cause. Send Scott Peterson.

Hey, good point, Steve. If you died on Mars, your body would not decompose. Then, when the next round of explorers come along, they can re-animate you (because we'll obviously have the technology to reliably place people in suspended animation and revive them by then). So, you wouldn't really be dying, you'd just be giving up living for a while.

Earl; You certainly would decompose on Mars. The planet is not without an atmosphere, it just has a very thin one. Even if you wouldn't decompose, once your brain is deprived of oxygen for more than a few minutes, the cells die off. Once this happens there is no bringing the person back.

Yes, mankind is where it is from people chancing death to make great discoveries. How do you think we know that hemlock is poisonous? Or that lettuce can be safely eaten? Somebody tried it and everybody else learned.

These people are heroes that take that chance willingly. If they draft people to do it then I would see where the activists would have a stand.

Serious do they plan to go their with no means of getting back? sounds like suicide.

But the atmosphere alone doesn't make a person decompose, Bob, does it? Isn't it the microscopic organisms and such that do the decomposing? Perhaps we should send a little airtight cocoon along with the lucky devil to crawl into just in case.

As a retired AF officer, I'll go in a heart beat,... where do I sign up? Earth has lost all its appeal. The people here are either clueless, or out to destroy my way of life. What better way to go out that trying to build a new life somewhere else? Suicide is what you people are doing every day,... killing yourselves, your planet, and your entire species by not getting off of this planet,... this is a chance for life. Technical obstacles to overcome is what I do,... and those like me. When do I leave?

I think everyone can agree that in order for the human species to carry on we need to get off this rock. The sun will eventually burn up the earth and kill everything on it. We need to find other sutable planets to colonize or change to suit our needs. This is one in many steps that need to start happing

Why would alien life prove that God is man-made? That's completely illogical. Couldn't God create "aliens" too? I don't believe He did, but if we were to find life on Mars, I would certainly still believe God created it; just as He created the entire universe and everything in it.

I'm glad to see the spirit that made humans populate all the planet is still alive.
It's been almost 200 years since humanity became a couch potato, sacrificing the colonization instinct (yes, INSTINCT) for the sake of safety and comfort.
Now, with Earth turning into an overpopulated wasteland and most resources almost depleted, the pioneering drive will probably wake up again. The more uncomfortable we are anywhere, the more willing we are to go somewhere else.
As for me... if offered the chance, I would think about it a while and discuss it with my wife. But I would bet that if it seems technically sound, we would go.

No soldiers please! Keep yours killing machines for yourselves! Do you want we to send our soldiers to visit your planet!?

The Lindbergh analogy is silly. Lindbergh probably would NOT have flown to France if he thought there was no chance of returning, and most of us would probably agree that France would be at least a marginally better place to be stuck for life than on Mars.

Life is a one-way trip for all of us. The questions are whether the journey is meaningful and the end is at a place of your choosing.

i think we should send a criminal or some other social piria...why deprive ourselves of a good person when we could be getting rid of a bad person?

If given the chance I would go to do this once in a life time opportunity to make history. Why not make your life meaningful and your name remembered for a long time with doing something for the greater of mankind. People need to stop being so narrow-minded.

Having reread the original, it doesn't look like McLane nor Atkinson is saying this is a suicide mission. It is just a one-way trip. Otherwise every immigrant to any country would be committing suicide. Under this scenario the first person there would just be the first immigrant. The best thing to do is not send one person but many (6+?, include geologists, biologists and engineers) and have enough equipment to build shelters and green houses to raise food. Assuming there is sufficient water there it may only be necessary to send (preplace) enough supplies for a few years. Once a functioning colony is in place then there will be lots of reasons to go and lots of people wanting to go. Then the money will show up to develop the means to leave the surface. By the way I think just about all the technology needed to do this is available now. It's just a matter of building what is needed.