As a very casual observer to the developments towards man's first steps on the red planet, this seems a good summary of the obstacles that seem to be glossed over or outright ignored in the...
As a very casual observer to the developments towards man's first steps on the red planet, this seems a good summary of the obstacles that seem to be glossed over or outright ignored in the popular discourse about humanity's apparent/assumed eventual destination. I don't agree with the title (never say never, technical issues are likely solvable with enough time) but what I've always found interesting/troubling is the sheer hubris in the view that our destiny is to leave the planet for which we are tailor-made. The very usage of the term colonization makes me wonder how much we have really learned from the past 500 years, and how much will really have changed by the time we get to Mars (as A Tribe Called Quest noted, there ain't no space program for niggas). I fully support expanding the boundaries of our knowledge and our imagination, but we seem to not realize just how much we are sabotaging ourselves if we don't get things right at home.
I was hoping to learn about challenges I hadn't heard about before but this is just the typical stuff. Yeah a large colony isn't going to exist in 20-50 years. But the article ignores the common...
I was hoping to learn about challenges I hadn't heard about before but this is just the typical stuff. Yeah a large colony isn't going to exist in 20-50 years. But the article ignores the common pitfalls of talking about the future by assuming they know anything about it. If the last thousand years have taught us anything it's that things can change rapidly. For all we know in 50 years a breakthrough in self-improving general AI will occur and it'll just spit out a solid plan for colonizing plan, even going as far as to help us exploit resources to make it profitable.
The problem is what you're saying is just as handwavey as the dismissals in the article, and frankly using "AI" to route around existing problems seems somewhat of a strawman situation. There's...
The problem is what you're saying is just as handwavey as the dismissals in the article, and frankly using "AI" to route around existing problems seems somewhat of a strawman situation. There's real, fundamental physical constraints space exploration bumps up against that will likely remain unsolved for quite a time. It's not about technology either. There's political will, financial availability, and so-forth. There's also no guarantee the future will be better than the present.
I take a somewhat alternative view—I don't see too much issue with setting up a research station, but anything larger than that will not happen within at least several more human-lifetimes.
AI was just a large unexpected change to exemplify that you can't predict the future. There's really no point in hypothesizing about the prospects of mars colonization in 100 years. You simply...
AI was just a large unexpected change to exemplify that you can't predict the future. There's really no point in hypothesizing about the prospects of mars colonization in 100 years. You simply can't say if it will or wont happen.
I think that once we get the travel times down to a couple of months it'll happen. Develop LEO infrastructure, move on to the Moon, and eventually Mars will follow. It's not going to be a rapid...
I think that once we get the travel times down to a couple of months it'll happen. Develop LEO infrastructure, move on to the Moon, and eventually Mars will follow. It's not going to be a rapid thing. It'll be an economics and availability thing.
As a very casual observer to the developments towards man's first steps on the red planet, this seems a good summary of the obstacles that seem to be glossed over or outright ignored in the popular discourse about humanity's apparent/assumed eventual destination. I don't agree with the title (never say never, technical issues are likely solvable with enough time) but what I've always found interesting/troubling is the sheer hubris in the view that our destiny is to leave the planet for which we are tailor-made. The very usage of the term colonization makes me wonder how much we have really learned from the past 500 years, and how much will really have changed by the time we get to Mars (as A Tribe Called Quest noted, there ain't no space program for niggas). I fully support expanding the boundaries of our knowledge and our imagination, but we seem to not realize just how much we are sabotaging ourselves if we don't get things right at home.
I was hoping to learn about challenges I hadn't heard about before but this is just the typical stuff. Yeah a large colony isn't going to exist in 20-50 years. But the article ignores the common pitfalls of talking about the future by assuming they know anything about it. If the last thousand years have taught us anything it's that things can change rapidly. For all we know in 50 years a breakthrough in self-improving general AI will occur and it'll just spit out a solid plan for colonizing plan, even going as far as to help us exploit resources to make it profitable.
The problem is what you're saying is just as handwavey as the dismissals in the article, and frankly using "AI" to route around existing problems seems somewhat of a strawman situation. There's real, fundamental physical constraints space exploration bumps up against that will likely remain unsolved for quite a time. It's not about technology either. There's political will, financial availability, and so-forth. There's also no guarantee the future will be better than the present.
I take a somewhat alternative view—I don't see too much issue with setting up a research station, but anything larger than that will not happen within at least several more human-lifetimes.
AI was just a large unexpected change to exemplify that you can't predict the future. There's really no point in hypothesizing about the prospects of mars colonization in 100 years. You simply can't say if it will or wont happen.
I think that once we get the travel times down to a couple of months it'll happen. Develop LEO infrastructure, move on to the Moon, and eventually Mars will follow. It's not going to be a rapid thing. It'll be an economics and availability thing.