12 Features Issue 12 July 2024 The RGS Gazette Neil Armstrong went to the moon in 1969, and between then and now, only 24 astronauts have made the trip. It took three rooms full of computer technology to send the astronauts in 1969, but the phone in your pocket today is much more powerful. With that in mind, why can we not send people to Mars? The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stone, but rather because we developed. The Bronze Age didn’t end because we ran out of bronze, but instead because we became more advanced. Mankind will not end because we run out of humans. It will end because we will fail to progress as humans and fail to advance technology to continue searching for humanity’s second home. That is how the dinosaurs went extinct because they failed to progress. Failure is optional, but failure to advance is not. So, buckle up, we are going to Mars. 'But why should we leave?' 'It is so much better here!' 'Earth is meant to sustain human life, but Mars is not.' The stark reality is that we are vulnerable. As a species, we have never been closer to extinction. Recall the recent pandemic the panic and the chaos. There are 300 million possible diseases that we are oblivious to. COVID was one of them. A disease may arise that has a fatality rate of 100%, it could travel into the body through a bite and take over your nerves. It could then cause your immune system and organs to stop functioning internally. We are powerless to stop extinction with the finite resources on Earth. Essentially, us humans are on lifeboats, surfing on the top of molten lava. 99.9% of species have gone extinct, and volcanoes are why. Of the past 11 major extinctions, 4 were caused by volcanoes. If multiple supervolcanoes erupt all at the same time, everyone on Earth will be buried in a thick layer of lava. As plants, animals, and crops die, we too will die. The sky would be so full of soot that summer would not return for 1000 years. Maybe some of the possibilities I’ve stated are unlikely, but I am not wrong about this. There are 15,000 nuclear warheads in circulation, owned by 9 countries, all of whom are in cold conflict with each other. Pakistan and India, the United States and North Korea, Russia, the UK, France and China as well as Israel all have disputes. All it takes is one mistake, one word, one politician to doom all of mankind. Why should we go to Mars? Well, why did Columbus go West? Why did Ferdinand go East? Because it is in our genes, the desire to explore the Last Frontier, space. Usually, when we hear the word last, it is bad. This last it means infinity. Think of babies they always stick weird things in their mouths. It is not because they like the taste of toy cars, but it is that desire to experience and see the world around them that causes them to explore. Even when we grow, we retain that same curiosity. Nevertheless, it would be costly. Is it really worth it if 1 in 10 people on earth go to sleep hungry? As it was famously articulated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, “If we can change Mars into Earth, we can change Earth back into Earth”. Conquering the frontier of Mars may yield the cure needed to heal the illness of our home planet. When people look back, will they remember the various conflicts and struggles? No, but what we did to make their civilisation possible. Life on Mars will be the same as on Earth, someone will start up a football association, someone will start a Flat Mars Society, there will be a bar named Mars Bar, and unfortunately, someone will have the idea of starting school. One day, your child will turn on the news, and the headline will be, “The world is ending tomorrow”. Would you rather that they were vulnerable on Earth, or safe on Mars, watching the destruction of a planet they once called home? I believe that most of you will choose the latter. Why Should We Go to Mars? Uzair Tariq (Year 10) decides humanity has outgrown Earth The surface of Mars, as seen from the Perseverance rover (2021) A valley on Mars, observed by the Curiosity rover (2021)
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