Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Wednesday, and it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you’d like to participate in the challenge, you can find the list of topics for 2023 here. If you’re interested in reading other people’s responses to this week’s topic, you can do so here.

Would You Move to A Mars Settlement? Explain.

I have always said I would love to live on Mars, but only if I could get there on a ship like the Enterprise D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I’m sure that ship would make for a comfortably short journey – as opposed to the 9-month travel time projected using current technology.

I have had actual dreams of stepping out onto the surface of Mars and touching the Martian soil with my bare hands – which wouldn’t be advisable since you’d most likely suffocate in the mere moments that followed.

It’s a harsh place, by all accounts, though there is evidence that leads scientists to believe the planet was once very much like our own. There were once rivers, lakes and seas flowing on Mars’ surface, and it once boasted an atmosphere thick and warm enough to prevent it from freezing. But then, something happened to the planet, causing it to lose its magnetic field and, thus, allowing its atmosphere to be stripped away by the Sun’s solar winds.

Building a settlement there would help us to understand what happened and how it happened whilst, perhaps, helping us prevent something similar happening to Earth.

Another good reason for humans living on Mars is that we won’t be confined to a single planet. If a horrific global catastrophe occurred – for example, a super volcanic eruption, asteroid impact, or a pandemic on a scale we have yet to see then humanity could be wiped from existence. We are much more likely to survive as a species if we spread ourselves throughout the solar system and make ourselves less of a target for extinction-level events.

Living on Mars could also provide valuable resources that are becoming scarce on Earth. For example, Mars is rich in rare earth elements essential in manufacturing electronics. Accessing these elements could help alleviate the pressure on Earth’s limited resources and support sustainable industry growth.

Furthermore, a Martian settlement would allow us to conduct research that just isn’t possible on Earth. With a different atmosphere, gravity, and terrain, we could study a range of scientific fields, from astrobiology to geophysics. As we learn more about Mars, we could also gain critical insights into Earth’s past and future by comparing the two planets’ histories and evolution.

Finally, living in a Martian settlement would be an unprecedented adventure for humanity. It would test our ingenuity and abilities, pushing us to evolve and improve our skills in new and exciting ways. The challenges involved in establishing a settlement on Mars would bring us together as a species, uniting us in a common goal and inspiring us to work towards a brighter future. At least, one would hope. Knowing humans, though, that probably isn’t going to happen. Certainly not in my lifetime.

Well, that’s me for today. I’m looking forward to finding out what the rest of you say about Mars. Would you be part of a Martian settlement?

Thank you, as always, for stopping by to read my post. It really does mean a lot.

Until next time,

George

© 2023 GLT

Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Tags: blog, colony, humans, Mars, Martian, settlement, space, Wednesday, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge