Hot take: I dunno.
Before the U.S. put the first man on the moon, before the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, people thought aliens lived on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor.
The belief sparked fear in some — and outright panic when Orson Welles broadcast reports in 1938 of a Martian invasion drawn from the novel “The War of the Worlds.”
But it inspired others to question: Are we alone in the universe?
“Perhaps the single, most consuming scientific question of the space program is: ‘Does extraterrestrial life exist in our solar system?’” rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun wrote in a 1969 proposal to send humans to Mars.
In the decades since, even after scientists concluded the aliens of science-fiction fame do not live on Mars, the Red Planet has captivated the world’s imagination unlike any other.
It’s been the subject of countless movies, books and TV shows. It’s been an inspiration for folklore. And it’s been a desired destination for dreamers — a barren, dusty terrain that could offer scientists a look at what may lie ahead for Earth.
But a human mission to the Red Planet was out of reach in the 1960s. And it remains elusive today.
Top NASA officials have tentatively aimed for a human mission to Mars in 2033, but even they admit that timeline is aggressive. NASA still needs to develop a spacecraft capable of transporting humans to Mars; a method of propulsion to cover the distance more quickly; and a surface-landing vehicle that can handle the Martian climate.
Can NASA get it done in 14 years?
“I don’t know,” replied Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations.
“It’s a function of how much (progress) the program can make,” he told the Houston Chronicle in April. “The technology and the hardware is reasonable, but can we get the budget? That I don’t know.”
Some question going at all. The U.S. already has successfully landed eight robotic missions on the Red Planet.
“It’s kind of questionable about what there is to be gained,” Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham told the Chronicle. “You have to find some rationalization and justification in order to spend what it costs to go to Mars.
“I think that’s a long shot right now.”
On the one hand, I think there’s a lot to be learned by planning and executing a manned flight to Mars. I feel like as much as private firms are now in the space business, the public sector needs to continue to have a strong presence, if only to ensure that the knowledge gained by space travel remains in the public sphere. On a strictly parochial level, someone is eventually going to do this, and I’d rather it be the US than China or Russia.
Against that, it’s fair to question the value of the knowledge we’d get from a manned flight versus an unmanned flight. This would cost a ton of money at a time when there are higher priorities. It’s far from clear that this is something the public wants, and this is one of those times when having the President get behind it would not help at all. (I felt a little queasy just typing that out.) The idealist in me would love to see this happen. The pragmatist is far from convinced.
“You have to find some rationalization and justification in order to spend what it costs to go to Mars.”
We need to send men to Mars for the same reason we sent men to the Moon.
“We do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
JFK, right here in Houston, back in the day
We are Americans. We lead. We explore. We get the job done. THAT is why we need to send men to Mars.
It would be interesting, but what value will come off it? Any natural resources would be valueless compared to the cost to get there, obtain them, and bring them back. The value of resources on Mars would be to develop Mars into a livable planet for people. I’d rather be right here, spend the money helping the home planet. Of course, mars will happen, eventually.
Mars One estimates the cost of sending the first four people to Mars at about $6 billion, or slightly less than what the proposed I-45 expansion will likely wind up costing us. I’d call that an amazing bargain.