Mars
Sam Aurelius Milam III
Various
people have been advocating that we should colonize Mars. That might
or might not be a good thing to do in the far distant future. I believe
that it's a bad thing to do in the near future.
We've
learned a few things about some of the physiological harm that can result
when people live at 0 G. If we draw an imaginary line between 0 G
and 1 G, then we might get some idea of the physiological harm that could
result from living at about 1/3 G, which is the gravitational force on
Mars. Actually, I expect that the effects of long-term exposure to
1/3 G would be more harmful than the effects of short-term exposure to
0 G. There's another problem with living on Mars. It's atmospheric
pressure is only about 1/10 of that of the atmospheric pressure on Earth.
So, people who live on Mars will be restricted to sealed habitats, or to
wearing pressure suits and oxygen tanks. There's another problem.
Mars is cold. A normal human society would be difficult to sustain
on Mars. Given our short-term thinking, and our propensity for quick
results, it seems to me that the most likely response to the problems that
Martian conditions present will be to genetically engineer people to stay
healthy in those conditions. That's a bad idea.
Martians
— The genetically engineered people on Mars would be different from us.
They might be so genetically different that they wouldn't even be able
to interbreed with us. Even if they could interbreed with us, the
resulting hybrids, if they were viable at all, might not be able to live
on either planet. Given time for the genetically modified people
on Mars to adapt on their own, they'd eventually end up being even more
genetically different than they were at first. They'd probably tend
to be taller, due to the lower gravity. They'd probably have pale
skin, because of the weak sunlight. They'd have large chests, because
of their larger lungs. I don't know how they'd adapt to the cold
but their entire physiology would be different from ours. They wouldn't
look like us. They wouldn't be like us. They'd be a whole new
species. They'd be Martians.
Xenophobia
—Throughout our known history, different groups of us have failed to peacefully
coexist, regardless of how trivial the differences between the groups might
have been. Imagine the hostility that will develop between two completely
different species. I expect that the Solar System isn't big enough
for both us and the Martians. One species will eventually exterminate
the other. Then, whichever species survives will have one useful
planet and one useless planet. It seems to me that the best solution
to that problem is to make sure that there are never any Martians.
To accomplish that, we need to terraform the planet, so that the people
living on Mars can be genetically the same as us. They might become
a different race but at least they'll be the same species. Although
our history suggests otherwise, we might be able to peacefully coexist
with a Martian race, as opposed to a Martian species.
Terraform
— If we allow Martians to come into existence before we terraform the planet,
then terraforming it will become politically impossible. The Martians
will object. Therefore, the terraforming must be done prior to the
colonizing, giving Mars an earthlike biosphere. That biosphere must
be self-sustaining, a biosphere that can exist without the support of technology.
That's true because human societies collapse. When they collapse,
their technologies collapse with them. Therefore, it will be necessary,
as a precaution, to make sure that the people on Mars will have a biosphere
that can sustain itself without technology, and in which they can live
off of the land, if necessary. Otherwise, humans on Mars might become
extinct.
The
necessary first step to achieve an earthlike biosphere on Mars will be
to increase the gravitational force of Mars to the same as that of Earth.
That's true because an earthlike biosphere can't be self-sustaining at
1/3 G. The only way to increase the gravitational force of Mars is
to increase its mass. The mass of Mars is only about 1/10 of that
of Earth, so a mass approximately equal to 90% of the mass of Earth must
be dropped onto the surface of Mars. Sufficient material is abundantly
available in the asteroid belt. Moving it to Mars is merely a technical
problem.
The
biosphere must have an appropriate atmosphere, and suitable oceans.
Water for
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