Why are we trying to convert mars into a habitable planet when we have earth to live on?

Question

There is a lot of research work going on all over the world. Scientists are putting their heads together and trying to figure out the most practical ways to terraform mars. But can anyone tell me exactly WHY we are looking for another planet to live on when we have earth all to ourselves? Is it because of population explosion or becuse of the fact that earth will be swallowed up by the sun when it dies?

Answer 1

When the Sun dies, Mars will be destroyed as well. Besides, that's 6 billion years from now. No, Earth has more problems - overpopulation, global warming, etc. We can't solve all these problems; we need to look to expanding into space, eventually.

Answer 2

I don't believe there is any serious research into terraforming. Scientists may chat about it at dinner parties, but research is driven by money. Nobody is investing in terraforming Mars. It is just an interesting idea, but in reality, it will be centuries before anyone ever puts it on a real "drawing board".

I do argue with people who quote Columbus. It's the Columbus mindset, and space is a whole different concept. Mankind and other animals have always migrated on Earth. Columbus just went a bit further (actually the Chinese were sailing the world 100 years earlier).

It's like on Star Trek where they run a starship like an ocean ship. That is blatantly ridiculous - a ship that travels beyond light speed being run like a ship that travels at 20 knots. They even bring it to a stop and reverse engines, completely ignoring the basic laws of the universe, like everything is gravitationally bound to something else - ie when approaching a planet or a star, you are in its orbital envelope and stopping engines and suchlike is just plain stupid.

Answer 3

confident. Mars basically has 3 issues that make it uninhabitable: it is chilly, the ambience is skinny, and it does not help liquid water (plus something on it gets irradiated, yet once you construct your place under some ft of soil and positioned on a lead sombrero the subject is moot). those issues (even the irradiation) could be solved via getting a thicker ecosystem; getting greater water interior the technique won't harm. i've got have been given no theory the place to get a thicker ecosystem (bottle up some Venusian air and deliver it over?), yet as quickly as that subject is solved (no longer even an entire ecosystem is mandatory; in trouble-free terms adequate for human lungs to no longer explode), the rest turns into greater trouble-free. Farm some micro organism and lead them to churn out oxygen out of carbon dioxide, then as quickly because it is slightly warmer and there is greater usable water, start up planting flora. Hurl a comet or 2 on the northern hemisphere and you have have been given your self an ocean on Mars.

Answer 4

The population of the human race is growing at a steady pace. Over 6 billion people live on this fair planet, and it is getting crowded. Earth cannot sustain a growing population forever. We need somewhere else to live.

Answer 5

That is not really what I heard as the biggest goal of Mars, I know they are working extremely hard to find out if water exists on Mars to see if it is possible to have organic life on Mars, I know however it is the goal of Nasa and the United States to colonize the moon in the 2020's.

Answer 6

You are mistaken. There is little or no research going on to change Mars into a habitable planet. There is just a lot of talk about the idea by non-scientists, especially on the web.

Answer 7

--We are in fact in a bigger bind than just what the six billion people on this planet alone would suggest. It's not just a question of "can we keep growing here forever while still having enough room and food for people?"--and we *cannot*, by the way.

It is also a question of pollution. Between global warming's making weather patterms *more intense* (not always hotter per se), and groundwater stores becoming more and more depleted and/or contaminated, modern mechanized agriculture itself is going to be harder and harder to maintain over much of the earth, as much more of the earth itself becomes desert courtesy of the shrinking water supply.

If, *IF* we didn't add one more person, one more life to the situation, starting today, we'd still have problems as our pollution load in combination with dwindling water supplies would still screw over our ability to feed ourselves for the next century or so. And this doesn't even factor in the number *Peak Oil* is going to do on Western standards of living once we discover that we are *running out of gas* and haven't prepared ourselves...

That is the biggest of our problems....too many people, and we are also screwing ourselves out of our needed resources. At the same time.

--If we actually had serious plans to terraform any other world in our solar system--and it seems we don't--Mars would make the best candidate, as the temperature extremes aren't too great, the gravity well is manageable, and really the only catch is getting a sustainable atmosphere going that people can breathe. That is a big problem as it may well be that Mars is too small for a proper, human-sustaining atmosphere without eventually doming or building a bubble around the whole planet.

--Location, location, location. Going to Mars puts us that much closer to the Gas Giants....and to *LOTS* of resources. Sorry for the shouting, but really, if we can *ever* get out there in a major way and find ways to a) exploit the natural resources of Jupiter and Saturn, and b) at once *leave the pollutants and wastes in space*, we do have the potential to create so much wealth that one human *cannot possibly* own it all.

Having a permanent presence on Mars would put us that much closer to having so many resources at our disposal that the concept of relative wealth and poverty *itself* would become obsolete. At least as far as individuals within our species are concerned. Really, there are *storms* on Jupiter as big or bigger than Earth is....and that is *one* Gas Giant.

We have four. And while there is no petroleum out there, there is sufficient hydrogen and methane (natural gas) present that even without a real increase in technological sophistication, we could still exploit the Gas Giants as *mere fuel sources* for *millenia* with impunity. It's just a question of *getting out there and back*, because the distances are huge.

Being on Mars even in a small way--having a city permanently there--improves our odds immensely of having far more wealth at our disposal than what *even we* could mess up.

So really....It isn't just about the room. We can always pack *bodies* more tightly here on Earth.

It is about resources. Being able to feed people--which can only continue truly if we move the *bulk* of our polluting industry *off-world*, so that global warming doesn't end up making modern mechanized agriculture impossible--and being able to maintain and *improve* standards of living for *everyone*. All six billion plus of us.

Hope this helps clarify things some. ^_^ And I hope this gets people to thinking about ways to make our future *work* versus ways to *screw it up*. Because I dunno about you...but I *don't* want to see the human race all die off, or see Western Civilization come to an end any time soon (maybe come back to its senses, but not to an *end*).

Answer 8

We need to expand. Earth cannot hold everyone, at some point we will get overpopulated. So we need to start looking at our own backyard, mainly the Solar System, and when we have figured out how to go to other star systems to do so.

Answer 9

Why did Columbus sail to America when we had Europe to live on?

Discovery, adventure...to have options if something happens. Why not? If we can learn enough about it, maybe we can survive.

Answer 10

because ppl aint never satisfied with what they have. they should invest money to take care of what we have than on somethins no1's sure about