Gizmodo: Humans Will Never Colonize Mars

day-day

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Is there a sister planet out there?

...Unless we radically adapt our brains and bodies to the harsh Martian environment, the Red Planet will forever remain off limits to humans.

Mars is the closest thing we have to Earth in the entire solar system, and that’s not saying much.
The thought of making biological modifications to humans is fascinating.


Humans are wimps. Drop some cockroaches on Mars; they'd colonize it.
 
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Tidewater

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Is there a sister planet out there?



The thought of making biological modifications to humans is fascinating.


Humans are wimps. Drop some cockroaches on Mars; they'd colonize it.
Just like launching something interplanetary from the moon (getting away from the Earth's gravity well) is easier than from the surface of the Earth, I would think that launching something interstellar from Mars (getting further away from the Sun's gravity well) would be easier that from Earth.
There are some other candidates for colonization (e.g. Titan or Europa) of all the alternatives, Mars might be the least bad choice.)

Never is a long time.
 
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Crimson1967

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Good article, and I agree with the author, even though he brings up some points I'd not fully considered.

Gizmodo: Humans Will Never Colonize Mars
I didn’t read the whole article, but enough to get his point. I totally agree that colonizing Mars isn’t going to happen anytime soon. The place is several months away by space flight and has no natural resources. Setting up living conditions would be very expensive even if it could be done easily. I would rather spend money on forgiving student loans or Medicare for all.




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crimsonaudio

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I agree as well. I just do not think it will ever be possible in any lifetime.
Yah - the biggest issue no one seems to talk about is that Mars no longer has a magnetosphere, so terraforming an atmosphere will essentially be impossible as solar winds will continue to strip away the atmosphere. At best it will always be an environment that will kill humans almost instantly.
 

Tidewater

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Yah - the biggest issue no one seems to talk about is that Mars no longer has a magnetosphere, so terraforming an atmosphere will essentially be impossible as solar winds will continue to strip away the atmosphere. At best it will always be an environment that will kill humans almost instantly.
One of the Mars docudramas I saw on NatGeo (or Netflix) showed the colonists going into a volcanic crevasse to get away from solar radiation. I don't know if that is sufficient protection, but if NatGeo says it is, then it must be.
 

crimsonaudio

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One of the Mars docudramas I saw on NatGeo (or Netflix) showed the colonists going into a volcanic crevasse to get away from solar radiation. I don't know if that is sufficient protection, but if NatGeo says it is, then it must be.
Underground is also a possibility.

But those who suggest it will be colonized seem to underestimate the unbelievable undertaking it will entail. Literally everything you need to live will have to be carried there, at tremendous expense. Not to mention all the technology that would be required that we don't even have yet, or would have to aggressively modify to work in that harsh environment...

Like the author said - we've not even colonized Antarctica yet and it's FAR more hospitable than Mars...

Humans will never colonize Mars. We'll almost certainly set foot on it, but it won't be another home for humans.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Underground is also a possibility.

But those who suggest it will be colonized seem to underestimate the unbelievable undertaking it will entail. Literally everything you need to live will have to be carried there, at tremendous expense. Not to mention all the technology that would be required that we don't even have yet, or would have to aggressively modify to work in that harsh environment...

Like the author said - we've not even colonized Antarctica yet and it's FAR more hospitable than Mars...

Humans will never colonize Mars. We'll almost certainly set foot on it, but it won't be another home for humans.
It would make Death Valley look like a cakewalk...
 

crimsonaudio

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Economics, the Dismal Science.
Elon hopes to get the cost of LEO down to $500/lb - can you imagine the cost escape earth's gravitational field and get equipment to Mars? Just look at the Saturn V and how (relatively small) the payload was to the moon. Now multiply that by literally thousands.
 

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