When you first consider the prospect of a mars colony, the first things that come to mind are only the positive outcomes. Only when you look deeper into this expidition do you start to see the enormous cost and extreme dangers associated with traveling to this planet. What people also fail to realize or comprehend are the political and socio-economic repercussions of furthering our advancement to colonizing the red planet. As a nation in this day and age, I do not think we should undergo a full scale colonization of mars. While this prospect is an optimistic and hopeful vision, we have issues that need to be resolved on our own planet before we start to inhabit another, lest the dilemmas of our homeworld should follow us to mars. The major proponent of the mars colonization program and the leading individual for aerospace engineering, Elon Musk, is an optimist about our current situation. Musk has envisioned what he calls the “Interplanetary Transport System” (ITS) as the vehicle that will transport people to Mars. The sheer cost of this endeavor is astronomical. And even if this project gets funded and built, who is going to pay for the colony on Mars? Will it be U.S. taxpayers or will it be privately funded by Elon Musk himself? In either case, Musk believes the cost of mars to decrease greatly, “But he offers neither sufficient technology improvements nor evidence of demand to add up to a $200,000 trip to Mars” (Pike 2).What he also fails to realize is that Moore’s law does not …show more content…
This could lead to potential infighting amongst the colonist, and without the support of Earth, they will have a hard time maintaining stability, even if they have advanced technology to help their colony prosper. In a perfect world, everyone would get along and cooperate. But humans are an emotional impulsive people, and hardly ever act on
“NASA Should Be about Space,” says that Obama has cut money off NASA, for Earth Science. Even though Earth Science has raised up to 63%, according to “NASA Should Be about Space,” NASA will have not enough money to send people to the moon or Mars. Since space has not controlled by anyone, really, the U.S should start to take into advance to complete mission no man has done back then. The state of Texas is willing to help fund NASA, and hope to find what is needed.
Headed by former NASA ‘Mars Czarr’ Orlando Figueroa, it will put together a framework for funding and planning smaller Mars missions beginning as early as 2018” (Reardon). NASA is fighting for this program and desperately wants to be funded. According to NASA this Mars mission is a top priority for them, and it shows by how hard they are trying to at least start the mission during this decade.
NASA is a symbol of all things American, including the positive and the negative. NASA displays technical excellence, unflappable determination, and a sense of innovation that some could call uniquely American. NASA also shows a profound organizational malaise, an unwillingness to respond to new technologies, an inability to operate safely, and a bloated bureaucracy that refuses to stay on budget. NASA is quite simply, the best and worst of the United States, summed up in one organization.
Elon Musk, NASA, and Nikola Tesla have all incorporated the first steps into the plans for colonizing Mars. Nikola Tesla let out his ideas to colonize mars and now Elon Musk and NASA are currently in the lead of many in the race to colonize this planet. There are ideas to colonize other planets but Mars and the moon are closest to our accomplishments. In 2011 a project was launched known as Mars One. The founders of this project, Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders, launched an official idea to send one hundred people to mars for a permanent vacation by the year 2020. Sarah Cruddas from the CNN website says, “The journey itself is expected to take around seven months and recent MIT studies found that, should explorers succeed in landing, using current technology they would likely survive only 68 days.” Crudas goes on explaining how the volunteers are ready to take on any risks for scientific purposes. Mars One is requiring the winning applicants years of training and isolation before being able to set foot on a spaceship that takes them to mars. Later in Febuary 27, of the year 2013 another idea based around moving to mars was proposed by Dennis Tito known as “Inspiration Mars.” The initial plan for “Inspiration Mars” was to send a couple into Mars. They require large funds that were never met and Inspiration mars was called off. The founders of project one had a backup plan known as “Plan B” which
After the failure of Roanoke, British colonization of the New World petered out for a few decades. In the 1600s, the tides changed. The English began colonizing again, founding numerous colonies with many different goals in mind. The purpose and makeup of each colony was different, but most of them had one thing in common. The colonists were often unprepared for the challenges that they would face in the New World, for a variety of reasons. For example, many settlers didn't realize how different the new land was from their homeland, and so didn't prepare for the challenge of harsh winters. Many also underestimated the natives, and made potentially fatal mistakes in their dealings with them. Lastly, citizens who funded certain colonies had purpose
Wasteful, useless, pointless – and many more colorful words have been used to describe the budget allotted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, NASA. You could almost make 24 stacks of one-dollar bills tall enough to reach space with the $17.5 billion that were budgeted this year alone. It’s a staggering amount at first glance I’ll admit, but there is so much more return in NASA’s work that many fail to see.
One of the qualities of the human race is that humans love to explore and find new things, like how Christopher Columbus found America. With most of our planet documented now, where do we have to go? The answer is simply one of the only places we haven’t yet (or may never) explore all of: space. Wars may be waged over land on earth, as there isn’t any new land to find there. So, we can go into space where unexplored land can be conquered and colonized. And while it may not seem like it, in the near future, it may be possible to colonize humans in space.
In going along with this plan, there will be more demand for scientists and engineers alike. Engineers will build the manned bases and vessels, while scientists occupy them and gather data to benefit the world. In this way, NASA will be able to see if it is possible to make Mars the next “Earth”, making plans to help make that a reality if this does happen. “Through space exploration and innovative thinking, NASA has injected science and inspiration into our culture and projected us into the future” (Haberle).
It’s readily apparent that, if given more financial support, NASA would ultimately stimulate the desperately needed economic growth in the nation. Furthermore, from all the research I’ve done I can come to the honest conclusion that NASA’s finances, along with being increased, should be doubled. That would be 0.96% of every penny of every dollar (not even a whole penny). This totals out to approximately $35 billion dollars. Again, history shows that “the nations who embrace the investments in science and technology are those that lead the world”. However, if $35 billion dollars still sounds too costly for you then I have but one final question. How much would you pay for the universe?
How would you feel if random people from another country came into yours and just completely took over and changed everything you had become accustomed too? In the mid-1800's Europeans took it upon themselves to colonize Africa. Since then, it is now 2030 and the US government is now debating whether or not to colonize struggling countries in South America. The US should not colonize these countries that are being considered struggling in South America because a sustainable lifestyle is able to obtain while living there that they do not need our "help" to survive. Also, a problem could arise between two countries or even multiple countries such as racism or even pollution during this colonization process.
The largest, and possibly most crucial, company is SpaceX. According to the official NASA launch schedule, eight of the thirteen launches NASA made last year were from SpaceX, also Orbital ATK (another private space company) was awarded three. This means NASA only launched two of their own rockets. What are taxpayers giving their $54 to NASA every year for, if not launches? Even after a launch failure in early September 2016, NASA spokesperson Tabatha Thompson said, “We (NASA) remain confident in our commercial partners.” Even after a multi-billion dollar failure, NASA’s faith is unwavering. The next major leap of faith for NASA may be on SpaceX’s new concept: the Falcon Heavy. Towering 230 feet high, it will be the second most powerful rocket ever, only falling short to the Saturn V. If SpaceX, only 15 years old, nearly has one of the most powerful rockets ever, what will they come up with next. What is the point of NASA, if they are being replaced so quickly by private
Mars is our next best hope in life on another planet. Because of science mankind can grow and harvest plants in the modified mars soil, make a thick warm atmosphere, and drink no frozen mars water. Mankind can grow and flourish more as a species with this idea of colonizing mars. With more scientific advancements we can colonize mars and we will colonize mars.
Sirens cast their spell, charmed we sailed through perilous seas to alien lands unknown. Centuries later they call again, but this time from uncharted worlds out among the stars. As dreams manifest to reality, the possibility of becoming a space-faring species looms just beyond the horizon. The concept of interstellar colonization will come to fruition in the very near future, beginning with the neighboring red planet. Mankind will greatly benefit from colonizing Mars because it will transcend conventional thinking and unite Earth as one people, provide access to unlimited sources of raw materials, and during an event of a global catastrophe preserve humanity.
Would you want to live on Mars? Some would say yes, others no, I am against going to Mars and think that we should stick to Earth and put our time, money, and energy into fixing this planet. I will show you all the reason why we can not go to that red planet.
Under a contract of $2.6 billion, SpaceX will continue to get the bulk of its money from NASA while continuing to develop their rockets. The competition is mostly European, with the two companies Arianespace, and International Launch services, have held a monopoly on space travel since the U.S. has removed itself from the industry in the 1980’s. As well as the current NASA contract, SpaceX has a $200 billion satellite industry with a 40-launch sequence set through the year 2018. SpaceX is currently headquartered in Hawthorne, California, and employs a total of 1,500 people. Its facility is an old factory that used to produce fuselage pieces for Boeing 747 airplanes. This is where parts for the Falcon 9 boosters, and the cone-shaped Dragon capsule that a year ago was the first commercial spacecraft to go into orbit and come back. What really makes this company shine are its prices: On the companys website it is advertised that Falcon 9 launch costs around $57 million, which adds up to a little less than $2,500 per pound to be put into orbit. As you can, that is quite a big difference than the $10,000 quote earlier stated. This year, Musk claims that the next rocket called, the Falcon Heavy, will try to lower to cost to just $1,000 per pound. Many observers may ask the question of how exactly the costs are driven down, but the secret is yet to be revealed. The company does not file patents as to protect itself from copycats like China who could use the technology for themselves. Currently the aim is to build huge rockets that are capable of multiple flights in out of earth to near planets, Mars in this case. But this asks the question, if SpaceX is working on this technology at a lower price, why is Congress forcing NASA to continue developing the less capable Space Launch System for much more? Space claims that it will develop a