A friend of mine and I were discussing this very topic the other night, and to my surprise this is a hotter debate than I imagined. We are both college educated, in our middle 20’s and have roughly the same political views. Interestingly enough, when it came to Mars, we couldn’t be farther apart on whether or not we should go to Mars. I firmly believe that we need to go to Mars, and we need to do so for the following reasons.
The biggest reason that we need to go to Mars, and then to Jupiter, and beyond, is that we need to explore what is out there. Sure a probe is a great tool to give us a good heads up on some of the features of the planet, maybe where to land etc., but rovers can only go so far. Spirit and Opportunity, two rovers that recently went to Mars, were only able to map so much of the surface, and detail so much area in the three years that they were in existence.
Not going to Mars is a mistake, because not only do we have a lot to gain scientifically, we can gain a lot as human beings. Imagine if for the first time in history man has a mission that inspires global interest. For the first time in history, we are leaving Earth and our Moon, to go to a different planet, and start the path to eventually exploring the rest of the cosmos. I know that the launching of Sputnik also inspired a lot of people around the world, but today, we have to have all the nations of the world on board to achieve this goal.
If we go to Mars, we will be able to finally find out if there was ever life in the past on Mars. Sure, the probes have uncovered possible evidence of life, but unless we go there and touch it, and test it ourselves, how can we be sure? There is nothing that can replace the human factor when it comes to looking at a landscape, judging what was there, and learning for ourselves what actually took place so many millions of years ago.
As Americans, we need to go to Mars again because it was one of the goals that our previous president laid out for the future. America is a nation that tends to fulfill its goals when it comes to our long term exploration agenda. When JFK said we were going to the Moon, we went to the Moon, and it was a source of national pride, as well as a step forward for the human race. Imagine if we went to Mars, what would the world think then? The USA would once again be among the leadership of the world, and would have helped bring about the ultimate event in the existence of humanity.
Quite simply we need to go to Mars. We could be alone out there, and maybe it is up to us to colonize the universe. If we go extinct, and life doesn’t ever form ever again, the whole creation of the universe will be a waste. It could also be that we are not alone, but are the most advanced form of life in the universe, and maybe we could be the first life forms in the history of the universe to leave our home planet. We need to take the risk, because regardless of the cost, we have so much to gain in return.
