The Case for Mars

Why Mars?

To understand the nature of life, to provide a second home for humanity and to reach for the stars, humankind must go to Mars. America’s space program is stalled and aimless. Its last great achievement was the Apollo moon landings, now decades in the past. The space program needs a goal to renew its purpose. Fine, you might say, get a goal...but why Mars?

Start with water. While temperatures on Mars’s surface average below freezing, the fourth planet from the sun hasn’t always been so cold. Photos show “dry riverbeds,” evidence that Mars once had essential water. Settlers will be able to find water below ground. Mars also has carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, so people will be able to grow food and make rocket fuel. Because no oceans cover its surface, Mars actually has as much land as all of Earth’s continents combined. A Martian day is about the same length (24 hours and 39.6 minutes) as an Earth day. This will make it easy for settlers to adjust, as will the 24° axial tilt, which gives Mars seasons that vary like Earth’s. Using existing methods of propulsion, a trip to Mars would take about six months during the orbital period when Mars ...