Should people be allowed to live on Mars?
This question is equivalent to asking, should I be allowed to leave my baby in the microwave?
First instinct should tell you it is too dangerous. No other planet in our Solar System is habitable, at least for humans. I will tell you why Mars is too dangerous for us to live in.
NO OXYGEN
There is no oxygen in the Martian atmosphere; one must be housed in the protection suit. Even if we are able to bring in supplies there, there is no guarantee that it can last us that long. And unforeseen circumstances like leakage and delayed return trip to Earth can cause a deficit in oxygen supply.
You may argue that water electrolysis may be performed on-site to obtain oxygen, but there is another problem about water on Mars.
NO SURFACE WATER
Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to the much lower atmospheric pressure, and any bottled source would boil off once exposed to the atmosphere. Ice although available, it would require energy to melt the ice and for we know there is no oxygen on Mars, hence burning is not possible and this would most likely require stored electrical sources brought from Earth. This either speeds up the depletion of the energy source brought over to Mars, or we have to bring too much technology (for example, photovoltaic) there, making the trip not only physically difficult, but also financially impossible.
TEMPERATURE
The Mars is further away from the Sun, meaning it will have an overall much lower temperature than on Earth, which means by no chance you will get to expose to the Martian atmosphere.
DUST STORMS
Mars has the largest dust storms and such storms can go to the scale of engulfing the entire planet. It sounds so dangerous and this would mean you would have nothing to do other than staying in your specially-shielded home.
LIFE ON MARS
What kind of activities can one engage on a planet like this? Considering you have to be in the protection suit 24/7 (or at least when you are out of home), I don’t think leisure activities like sports, shopping or catching a movie can be accomplished easily (or even possible).
Living on Mars would require imports from Earth. But Mars’ outdoors is so dangerous, where can one earn enough money on live on it?
OTHER DANGERS
Imagine when one opens a can of oxygen or canned water from Earth for refill and accidentally pierced a hole in the protection suit. The suit deflates with a bang and the one in the suit is exposed to the Martian atmosphere, and blood vessels rupture instantly due to the abrupt change in pressure, resulting in instant death.
Mars is so dangerous, not only people should not be allowed to live on Mars, and people should not even think about living on Mars.
This article is entirely my own creation and was criticised by tactless D*v*d St*ce* to be one saddled with a skeptic syndrome that controls opinion regardless of proof. I believe it was just a move to attract one more viewer to view his youtube videos.
I must admit, there isn’t much any proof I can provide, for I am no astronomer or an enthusiast in astronomy, but that does not mean I know no logic or science. And to include much information already found online and with no absolute proof just make me a thief plagiarising others’ precious work. So-called proofs aren’t absolute until proven on the day human set foot on planet Mars.
But for the title of this article, which says “should people be allowed to live on Mars?” and English as one of the languages used by a group of terrestials we more commonly refer to as humans, ‘people’ in the title would be the most common meaning of ‘people’ we know. Also, “to live” necessarily mean going on a normal(although the concept of ‘normal’ may be very different there), routine lifestyle on planet Mars.
I am also perplexed about people who are easily taken in by information which are yet to be verified to be absolute truths; they chose to believe information that are (or should I say “may be”) schemingly-labelled to be “secrets kept from public by NASA and JPL”. True secrets will be kept secret. Technology is to guide us, not to lead us. Sometimes people rely too much on technology and forget that we are its creators (There is a graphics editing program call Adobe Photoshop). It will be absurd for me to believe the random pictures posted online to be true just because the pictures/videos are said to be legally posted under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). I would say picture of myself posted online is also legal under the FOIA. As long it breaks no law, it will be legal under all Acts and Statutes. Don’t you agree?
From the view of law and religion (although in many instances, law and religion contradict each other), people should not be allowed to live on Mars, since it is so dangerous. To live there is equivalent to attempting suicide. God might have created all stars and planets, but the other planets are not for our habitation. This is just my narrow point of view, I believe a greater scale of debate may blow up from the religious and legal view on this debate topic.
To conclude my article, in my “skeptical” point of view, we, people should not be allowed to live on Mars simply because of pathetically one reason – Safety.
It is not safe now, although our technology may already have the ability to do so, but we are not doing so because of countless uncertainties. To send anyone to live there would be equivalent to killing (or attempting to kill) them and this can amount to a crime known as manslaughter.
Perhaps similar debate might have sparked off decades ago when man first landed on the Moon. But, human has yet lived on the Moon. It’s still too early to talk about Mars.
