Mars (Planet)

It’s true that humanity won’t settle mars anytime soon.

Unfortunately, not everyone actually agrees about that: https://www.spacex.com/humanspaceflight/mars

But you’re missing an important element: Mars gives people inspiration and makes them look up.

I'm certainly not missing that element, nor are the authors of the book that this post is about (or the author of the article in my other post in this community). When I was a child I too aspired to be a space traveler, or even colonist. I'm still a NASA appreciator. And did you notice who my lemmy avatar is? Anyway, eventually I grew up.

It doesn’t matter whether they reach their goal, as long as the inspiration makes them dream, and that initself improves people’s quality of life.

It does matter when achieving that goal becomes a serious priority, to the detriment of others.

The belief that Mars colonization is something worth attempting in our lifetimes is not harmless at all:

• https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5294575/president-trump-elon-musk-mars-moon
• https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/07/nasa-mars-rocket-launch-00331694
• https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/09/nasa-spacex-elon-musk-ambitions/683559/ (paywall bypass)