Terraforming Mars
Will people ever live on Mars? How long will this take? How will it be done? What about ethical issues?
Terraforming
The term is based on the Latin, terra, which,
like the modern word, earth, is used equally for the soil and
for the whole planet. Jack Williamson was the inventor of the term.
It first appeared in a series of stories he wrote
in the early 1940s. It refers to altering a currently uninhabitable
planet to resemble and therefore support life like Earth.
Terraforming is an idea which has not yet been brought to practicality, but there is a mass of research material. The scale of such a project seems insurmountable, yet experts feel that the fundamental problems are largely solved. It has not been decided whether it would be mankind's biggest adventure yet, an insupportable waste of scarce resources, or the unforgivable rape of another world.
Why might we want to move to Mars?
We will look at many reasons people are interested
in colonization of Mars, some having to do with the spirit of
exploration, others to do with its healthy inspiration of science
and technology to strive for such a common goal. Finally, some argue
for the shear reason of creating a safe haven, should we run out
of resources for the predicted 8 - 10 billion people who will be
living on Earth in your lifetime, or completely
destroy our Earth (see here and
here).
What are the ethical issues?
Do we have a right to alter an entire (possible) ecosystem to
suit our needs? What if life had been there and we destroy it?
How do we investigate Mars without ruining it, should we find
evidence of life? Is our version of life more important to
justify altering the Mars ecosystem and there by destroying
Mars original biota?
Who would we send--representative peoples from all cultures and ethnicities?