Ever since man set foot on the moon, people have been imagining setting up colonies on the satellite and then on Mars. But the imaginative 60s gave way to the cold-war 70s and priorities changed.
But now, there appears to be a renewed interest in Mars. The United States, the EU and India have sent space missions to the red planet and there appears to be serious talk about setting up a colony there within the next ten or fifteen years. The discovery of flowing water on Mars has only added impetus to the discussion.
But isn't it possible that there is indeed indigenous life on Mars - no matter how primitive - perhaps just bacteria or other single celled organisms? If the answer to that question is a 'yes', then should we not leave Mars to the Martians?
What is humanity going for? We are fast approaching the time when we will have devastated one planet. Are we going after the second conquest now?
2 comments:
You know those sci-fi movies where they show an alien invasion on Earth with the primary objective to colonize Earth? Like Man of Steel and how the Kryptonians wanted to change the environment here to fit their needs. I've always thought that it wouldn't be us who would be conquered but rather we'd be the conquerors.
I'll differ - why should we let Mars be? We're running out of space and resources here on earth. And if Mars is a place where we can get them, let's go there by all means. What about pre-existing life on Mars? I've always felt that those are arguments best had in times of plenty, not in times when the threat to a species is real. If an asteroid of the size that wiped out the dinos were to come our way, neither would we be able to detect it "in time" to blast it out of our way, nor would we really know if "blasting it out of our way" would be of any use.
Mars is one of the many bets humanity has to make for its survival. And survival of a species, to me, is the worthiest goal there is. Let's try and live alongside them, as far as we can. If not, something's gotta give.
Heck I'd love to be alive and participate in the time and effort of humanity going intergalactic.
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