Home » Opinion » Book review
Plunderers of Earth now set sights on colonizing Mars
By Wan Lixin |
November 5, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ASTRONOMY is always a fascinating subject appealing to the populace as well as experts.
Thus Astronomy is virtually the only field of science where amateur observers have made significant contributions.
Most of these amateur star gazers have been fired by a lifelong curiosity to know about the universe we live in.
Given the transience of life and vastness of the universe, such knowledge should in normal conditions instill into us a sense of humility.
But sometimes paltry knowledge also make for megalomaniacs, some of whom are now clattering that we look beyond our planet earth for fresh conquests.
For them, the sky is no longer the limit.
In their "The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must," astronautical engineer Robert Zubrin and former Ad Astra editor Richard Wagner make a compelling case for sending humans to Mars.
They give many reasons for making the trip.
The American space program needs a new goal to give it direction, and Mars is it.
Existing technology makes such a voyage possible.
Mars's conditions and resources offer the best choice in the solar system for human exploration, and ultimate colonization.
Colonizing Mars would bring enormous financial payoffs.
The authors explain why Mars is chosen.
With iron, silicon and water found aplenty in the Mars, the planet has everything human needs to survive, and affords the potential for further industrializing the Red Planet for the comforts of human beings.
Of course such exploration can only be orchestrated in stages.
"The purpose of the first several human missions to Mars will be to explore, to survey, and to answer above all the question of whether or not the Red Planet ever harbored life," the authors write.
According to them, if work begin this year on the "Mars Direct" plan, an unmanned "multistage rocket" would head for Mars in August 2020.
On February 2022, a ship with a crew would take off for Mars, and after a six-month journey, arrive on Mars in April 2023.
In September 2024, after spending 18 months on Mars, the crew would return home.
This time line is based on significant technological improvements and idealized conditions.
In 1989, when the US government called for a manned mission to Mars, NASA reported that it would take decades and US$450 billion to develop a program.
The crew would spend 18 months traveling to Mars, a month in orbit and two weeks on the surface.
According to the book, in later stages, Martian colonization would start, which involves "terra-forming," or reshaping the Martian surface to support human life.
People's enthusiasm to know other planets can be honorable and harmless only when tempered with a sense of awe and respect.
We know very little about the origins of life, to say nothing of the origins of universe.
We do not know if our universe began with a Big Bang, meaning there is no knowing if there is eternity.
If we are "the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth," many seem to be very complacent about this fact.
Our reckless plundering of the earth's resources all stems from a desire to emulate the greed of a pampered minority that are known as wealthy and prosperous.
As the earth becomes uninhabitable, what needs to be done today is for human beings to reflect on their excesses, reform themselves and then subject the earth to a long healing process.
To fantasize about an interplanetary destination for fresh colonization would only encourage those prodigals to persist in their excesses.
It is apparent that human fate is inextricably linked with the conditions of the earth. Earth has given life to us, and it can easily take it away.
One of the most important Confucian principles states that knowledge should help individuals to rectify their personal conduct with a view to achieving universal harmony.
Modern human history has demonstrated that when technology is not humanized by larger purposes, it can wreak havoc.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Thus Astronomy is virtually the only field of science where amateur observers have made significant contributions.
Most of these amateur star gazers have been fired by a lifelong curiosity to know about the universe we live in.
Given the transience of life and vastness of the universe, such knowledge should in normal conditions instill into us a sense of humility.
But sometimes paltry knowledge also make for megalomaniacs, some of whom are now clattering that we look beyond our planet earth for fresh conquests.
For them, the sky is no longer the limit.
In their "The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must," astronautical engineer Robert Zubrin and former Ad Astra editor Richard Wagner make a compelling case for sending humans to Mars.
They give many reasons for making the trip.
The American space program needs a new goal to give it direction, and Mars is it.
Existing technology makes such a voyage possible.
Mars's conditions and resources offer the best choice in the solar system for human exploration, and ultimate colonization.
Colonizing Mars would bring enormous financial payoffs.
The authors explain why Mars is chosen.
With iron, silicon and water found aplenty in the Mars, the planet has everything human needs to survive, and affords the potential for further industrializing the Red Planet for the comforts of human beings.
Of course such exploration can only be orchestrated in stages.
"The purpose of the first several human missions to Mars will be to explore, to survey, and to answer above all the question of whether or not the Red Planet ever harbored life," the authors write.
According to them, if work begin this year on the "Mars Direct" plan, an unmanned "multistage rocket" would head for Mars in August 2020.
On February 2022, a ship with a crew would take off for Mars, and after a six-month journey, arrive on Mars in April 2023.
In September 2024, after spending 18 months on Mars, the crew would return home.
This time line is based on significant technological improvements and idealized conditions.
In 1989, when the US government called for a manned mission to Mars, NASA reported that it would take decades and US$450 billion to develop a program.
The crew would spend 18 months traveling to Mars, a month in orbit and two weeks on the surface.
According to the book, in later stages, Martian colonization would start, which involves "terra-forming," or reshaping the Martian surface to support human life.
People's enthusiasm to know other planets can be honorable and harmless only when tempered with a sense of awe and respect.
We know very little about the origins of life, to say nothing of the origins of universe.
We do not know if our universe began with a Big Bang, meaning there is no knowing if there is eternity.
If we are "the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth," many seem to be very complacent about this fact.
Our reckless plundering of the earth's resources all stems from a desire to emulate the greed of a pampered minority that are known as wealthy and prosperous.
As the earth becomes uninhabitable, what needs to be done today is for human beings to reflect on their excesses, reform themselves and then subject the earth to a long healing process.
To fantasize about an interplanetary destination for fresh colonization would only encourage those prodigals to persist in their excesses.
It is apparent that human fate is inextricably linked with the conditions of the earth. Earth has given life to us, and it can easily take it away.
One of the most important Confucian principles states that knowledge should help individuals to rectify their personal conduct with a view to achieving universal harmony.
Modern human history has demonstrated that when technology is not humanized by larger purposes, it can wreak havoc.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
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