Closer to Mars
If Elon Musk’s ambitious new plans for SpaceX are even partially successful—and it seems likely they will be—we'll be ready to send human crews to Mars within a decade.
Peter Hague
· 7 min read
Mars
A collection of 14 posts
The Mars Vanity Project
Elon Musk’s Mars plans are not just illusory, they are dangerous.
Lawrence M. Krauss
· 10 min read
A Home on the High Frontier
Jeff Bezos is inspired by a vision that does not involve living on Mars—or on any planet besides Earth—but inhabiting artificial worlds in free space.
Peter Hague
· 7 min read
The Future of the Space Industry
The privatisation of space travel is cutting the cost of rocket launches and powering innovation.
Rainer Zitelmann
· 12 min read
What We Can Create on Mars
Mars contains all the materials needed to support not only life but technological civilization.
Robert Zubrin
· 18 min read
Microbes on Venus May Herald Human Extinction (Though Not in the Way You Think)
Many of these cultures surely had their share of Elon Musks—beings who wished to colonize other worlds.
James D. Miller
· 8 min read
The Need for Scientific Caution in the New Space Race
On May 30th, 2020, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s facility at Cape Canaveral. Hidden in the roar of the thrusters was the crack of a starting gun for the second era of human expansion: The era of private crewed space exploration was on. During the last
Michael Shilo DeLay and Anastasia Bendebury
· 7 min read
Should We Colonize Mars? The Fate of Humanity May One Day Depend on It
Do we have the right to supplant Martian life with our own? Yes—because a human life has more value than that of a bacterium.
Owen Lewis
· 7 min read
In Space, Let Meritocracy Reign Supreme
Those who travel to Mars will not need to debate free markets, bureaucracy, or state control of the means of production. They will not care about the ethnicity or gender identity of their peers. They will be too busy figuring out how to survive.
Craig DeLancey
· 7 min read
One Small Martian Step for Man…One Giant Leap Toward the Annihilation of All Mankind
It is well known by now that, at some point, Mars had a lot of water on its surface, not just an isolated lake or two. There is strong evidence of now-dry rivers and deltas.
Armondo Simón
· 8 min read
In Mars Co. We Trust: Understanding the Coming Interstellar Corporatocracy
The universe is a big place. To the question of what we want to be, and how we want to express that being, compromise is canceled.
Michael Solana
· 10 min read
Blasting Enlightenment Values Into Martian Orbit
Build an education system that promotes both liberal arts and liberal values.
Cathy Young
· 5 min read
Do They Know It’s Christmas—On Mars?
The answer is obvious: We need to celebrate Christmas twice.
Chris Behrens
· 6 min read
Our Mission on Mars: Obey the Lessons of Mutiny on the Bounty
Setting aside for the moment the many physical and biological problems that must be overcome to establish a permanent base on Mars, it’s worth considering how one would govern such a remote colony.
Michael Shermer
· 13 min read