Interplanetary Colonisation - Why are we not funding/focussing human efforts towards it?

By no means are we ready but we need to at least start to prototype, fail, learn, improve etc. to get to a point where we are ready - this needs to happen on a collaborative earth scale rather than some rich privateers

that's just the technological side - humans need to also come together/accept each other for who they are/work together on this
 
h4rm0ny said:
Exactly what entity do you think would be offended by us colonising Mars? Do you think there's native life there that will be upset? Do you think the rocks themselves will feel defaced? It's an empty world just waiting for us to liven it up and give purpose.
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h4rm0ny said:
Exactly what entity do you think would be offended by us colonising Mars?
The dinosaurs are no longer around because they didn't have a Space program.
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Well the reptilians and the greys for starters

If the human race could show it's ability not to cause more damage fair enough, but they can't so meh

You know the first building to open on Mars would be a McDonalds

Equal rights for greens? Nah
 
mmj_uk said:
Isn't long term radiation exposure a huge issue beyond the Earth's atmosphere? hence why we've been slumming it on the ISS in Low Earth Orbit for decades rather than building bases on the moon.
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More than that. A couple of generations down the line and Selines/Martians/Belters/etc would no longer be able to return to the high G environment of earth.

We would rapidly differentiate into different species depending on environment.

(There would also likley be very high infant mortality before (Assuming there are any) the genes that would allow humans to survive in such radically different environments became common enough in the surviving populations.)

It would not be an easy time for the first dozen or so generations! :eek:
 
Distracted said:
But we are a plague on this planet, we consume and destroy rather than working with the environment. The planet would be better off without us.
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I don't think anyone can disagree with that, the problem is the human race has the ability to make technological advancements, but are too slow to fully adapt/implement them.

An article i read recently went into detail about how the LED light bulb has likely aided in a slow-down to global warming than if we were still using old-style filament bulbs. This is a fantastic example of human invention and advancement in tech, the problem is that it took the best part of 10+ years for LED bulbs to start becoming the norm, and that's likely only the case in developed countries, in poorer countries LED bulbs may not be as widespread.

Another huge example is with the car industry slowly moving over to electric cars. Can you imagine the positive impact to the planet if 99% of vehicles could be changed to electric within 2-3 years.
 
TheOracle said:
Well the reptilians and the greys for starters
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The lizards are from Zeta Reticuli and the Greys are us from the future. You need to brush up on your Ufology. The chances of anything living on Mars, are a million to one.

TheOracle said:
If the human race could show it's ability not to cause more damage fair enough, but they can't so meh
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Well again I'm asking damage what? Who is going to be impacted by some houses in the Gale Crater or sealing up parts of the Hebrus Valles? If some irrigation and a couple of nuclear reactors let us grow crops in the Martian soil do you imagine Olypmus Mons will look down in disapproval? Do you imagine it will spoil the view of people on Earth? Rephrasing your statement doesn't change my objections to it. In whose view would colonising Mars be "damage"? Yours obviously, but on no good grounds that I can see. It appears to be solely derived from considering human's presence anywhere an intrinsically bad thing. But the rocks don't care.

TheOracle said:
You know the first building to open on Mars would be a McDonalds
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Well obviously it wouldn't be. But facetiousness aside, if private enterprise can get us off this planet that sounds like a win to me. And after two years living off tubes of paste, even you might support a fast-food restaurant there.

TheOracle said:
Equal rights for greens? Nah
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Except there are no "greens". There's a good chance it can support life yet nobody lives there or has a claim on it. It's the Falkland Islands of Space.
 
billysielu said:
Once the propulsion tech is good enough to get somewhere in days rather than years, then it'll all pick up.
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If you travel to Mars in days, you'll be flattened to a pancake on the way out and pulled out like a sausage on the way in. :) G-forces at that sort of acceleration would be unsurvivable. If I recall correctly, five months would be doable at the closet point and assuming cheap power somehow, but not days.
 
h4rm0ny said:
If you travel to Mars in days, you'll be flattened to a pancake on the way out and pulled out like a sausage on the way in. :) G-forces at that sort of acceleration would be unsurvivable. If I recall correctly, five months would be doable at the closet point and assuming cheap power somehow, but not days.
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Nah, they do it in Star Trek all the time. More imagination required :P
 
billysielu said:
Nah, they do it in Star Trek all the time. More imagination required :p
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Perhaps we can find an oxygenated liquid that is significantly denser than blood. We can push some tubes into your chest connected to a mechanical pump that will keep it flowing even though it would be too much for your heart to manage. This will help offset the pressure from collapsing your veins and arteries. You'll arrive at the other end red as a tomato with a million burst capillaries and be black and blue for the next month, but we'll get you there.

Hey you were right - I just needed a little imagination. ;) :D

(Btw, have you ever read the Expanse novels or seen the Netflix adaptation? They put a lot of hard sci-fi in about G-Forces and mavity and its an important part of the plot in places. There's a really gruesome scene in the TV version where someone is rapidly decelerated and essentially just turns into a pizza on TV. They even go to the trouble of making the people who grew up on low-G look visibly different from Earthers and Martians.).
 
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h4rm0ny said:
(Btw, have you ever read the Expanse novels or seen the Netflix adaptation? They put a lot of hard sci-fi in about G-Forces and mavity and its an important part of the plot in places. There's a really gruesome scene in the TV version where someone is rapidly decelerated and essentially just turns into a pizza on TV. They even go to the trouble of making the people who grew up on low-G look visibly different from Earthers and Martians.).
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Haven't seen that, sounds yuck. Reminds me of The Space Between Us https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3922818/
 
h4rm0ny said:
Perhaps we can find an oxygenated liquid that is significantly denser than blood. We can push some tubes into your chest connected to a mechanical pump that will keep it flowing even though it would be too much for your heart to manage. This will help offset the pressure from collapsing your veins and arteries. You'll arrive at the other end red as a tomato with a million burst capillaries and be black and blue for the next month, but we'll get you there.

Hey you were right - I just needed a little imagination. ;) :D

(Btw, have you ever read the Expanse novels or seen the Netflix adaptation? They put a lot of hard sci-fi in about G-Forces and mavity and its an important part of the plot in places. There's a really gruesome scene in the TV version where someone is rapidly decelerated and essentially just turns into a pizza on TV. They even go to the trouble of making the people who grew up on low-G look visibly different from Earthers and Martians.).
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I don't remember that scene, however when they are chasing that big rock, they use some sort of fluid to maintain a high G burn, but even that is for only temporary use. Quite clever i thought.
 
TheOracle said:
No!

The last thing the universe needs is more humans messing it up. We've already ruined this planet.

Hopefully an alien race will put a stop to us at some point.

The earth should be like a cage for humans.....and a locked one at that.
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Do you really think something as insignificant as the human population of Earth could at all 'mess up' the universe? The universe is so immense that even if we destroyed the solar system everything would still be fine.

Also what makes you think some alien race that has the capability of reaching us isn't in themselves as destructive as we are?

I honestly think all humans have a god complex. That is they have this underlying belief, whether they religious or not, that we are something special.
 
So this is kind of out there but I think the Beatles sang it best - All You Need Is Love

Before we can get to the point of putting in vast amounts of resources into improving the technology required/making breakthroughs, humans need to just all get along and focus on long term survival
 
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