Mars - Quillette

A landscape, river and people picnicking inside a sphere. A hub is visible above.

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

20 Jan 2025 · 7 min read

An abstract photo of a woman looking through an astronaut helmet with a reflection of planets in the glass.

The Future of the Space Industry

The privatisation of space travel is cutting the cost of rocket launches and powering innovation.

Rainer Zitelmann

26 May 2024 · 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

19 Mar 2024 · 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

23 Sep 2020 · 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

26 Jun 2020 · 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

3 Feb 2020 · 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

22 Jan 2020 · 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

28 Dec 2019 · 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

27 Dec 2019 · 10 min read

Blasting Enlightenment Values Into Martian Orbit

Build an education system that promotes both liberal arts and liberal values.

Cathy Young

27 Dec 2019 · 5 min read

Do They Know It’s Christmas—On Mars?

The answer is obvious: We need to celebrate Christmas twice.

Chris Behrens

25 Dec 2019 · 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

22 Dec 2019 · 13 min read