Mars

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What are the chances of us being able to successfully colonize life on Mars?

Within your lifetime?

I doubt we will have permanent populations living on Mars in the first half of the 21st century.

Centuries/millennia down the road? Quite possibly.

Mars is more earthlike than any other celestial body we know of, but its still a godawful place. As Carl Sagan said "the best spot on Mars is far worse than the worst spot in Antarctica". But as technology progresses anything might become feasible.

There is already one country that has a HUGE population of smart people with the right stem skills who are - smart but are so poor that they will be willing to put up with godawful conditions. That country is India. So if I am wrong and the human race does start to colonize mars in your lifetime then...India will be the nation to take the lead (crazy as that may sound).

Those folks who bother you on the phone today lying about being from Microsoft to scam you- and talk high tech, but sound like Peter Sellers characters from South Asia(because that's what they are)- those will be the folks who will build and live in the future underground cities on Mars, and be the new pioneers.

Hell... how do you think that your state of Georgia got settled? It was a dumping ground for debtors in England in the 1700's. Fail to pay your bills? you're on the next prison ship to Georgia- put him in chains!

Similarly Mars will be settled by folks with the right combination of high skill and low expectations (if not outright desperation). Folks who would be running ransomware scams, but the judge offers them a chance at making an honest living...on a cold planet with five percent of earth's atmosphere, as an alternative to prison on Earth.

Sorry. I am getting all stream of consciousness here.

You think the Chinese wi too?

Ruthless people make the best pioneers and always come out on top. America was founded by ruthless people.

Maybe.

The Chinese and the Indians have actually cooperated in space ventures in the last few years.

We may have manned "space races" go in cycles in the future. Much like the original space race- fast and furious- and then suddenly crapping out, and stopping for years. The races being fueled by national vainglory, but crapping out due to lack of benefit per cost.

China may put a man on the moon. This wont alarm the traditional powers like the US and Russia, but it will get India afraid that China is trying to get the drop on them militarily somehow, and it will start an Asian space race.

The combination of India and China racing to space will then get other countries afraid. Russia, Japan, the EU, and the US, will join behind the front two Asian powers.

It may end up with everyone having manned bases on Mars, but with China and India having the biggest populations of Mars settlers.

With our current technology and political climate?

Slim to none.

And Slim just left town.

I know ... I know ... and I'm sorry.

It's just that I haven't had much faith in the space program since the Challenger murders.

Yeah, it's like our country is taking one step forwards and two steps backwards.

we should be sorting our sh*t out on planet earth before even considering starting a population on another planet.

lebanon's rubbish crisis due to there being nowhere to put the rubbish, it's all pilling up on the streets.

UK still test there bombs on the outskirts of small middle eastern countries and fund small middle eastern countries to attack the other for natural gas and oil.

climate change, deforestation, the obvious, etc.

over paid pop song writers creating identical melodies after melodies to indoctrinate young people into their money making scheme.

the day i heard Lou Reed and Daniel Johnston on a TV advert, i knew something wasn't right.

a whole lot of sh*t to sort out before going to mars.

(theres also a lot of positives about planet earth and why we should stay here: protests tackling the issues, communities, global tree planting projects, land to plant and grow things, food, nature)

Source: https://xkcd.com/1232/

I truly believe we should be doing much better in exploring other planets.

I understand the problem of funds.

But I believe this sort of exploration breeds a sense of optimism.

I agree with this.
I like Elon Musk's approach: drastically lowering cost per gram of space launch with reuseable rockets.
It makes a lot more exploration possible without global scale costs.

Lebanon?

Are you talking about the American town, or are you talking about the country?
If you're talking about the country of that name...solid waste disposal is the least of their problems!

I'm about 95% sure he's talking about the nation of Lebanon.

There were protests about the "rubbish situation" there in 2015.

Mars will be a very dangerous place to live when and if they do start settling there for the following reasons

1. The atmosphere has been stripped away
2. It has no solid magnetic field
3. The levels of UV rays are very high

They are also talking about Europa as a possible option which I don't quite understand because
1. There is no atmosphere with no oxygen
2. The moon is made out of ice
3. The seasons there are very long - 7 years each


I do believe there are earthlike planets that are habitable with the right features
1. You have to have a cooler star, like the sun within the habitable zone
2. You need an atmosphere with greenhouse gases
3. Oxygen
4. Water
5. Seismic activity and a magnetic activity
6. Erosion

Darn! Missed that story. Just that it seems like being in a place always on the verge of civil war, being next door to Syria, and with Hamas, Israel, and the PLO, all breathing down your throat, garbage disposal would down on the list of your worries. But I guess that the Lebanese have gotta thruway trash too!