We, as Homo Sapiens are an exploratory species. If we weren’t, we would never have moved out of Africa, and spread all over the world.

IMO, the establishment of permanent settlements on Mars, and perhaps Moon too, is a necessary step for humankind to develop technologies, procedures and develop us humans, before we step out of our solar system. This is inevitable, if we don’t kill ourselves before, our exploratory “gene” craves it of us.

 

But establishing a self-sustaining permanent presence on Mars will require several new technologies and approaches in the area of life support (food, water, air, radiation protection, etc.), construction materials and techniques, and energy production. I’m afraid we’ll all have to become vegetarians as Martians. I can’t envisage a piggery on Mars, maybe chicken farm for egg production, but definitely fisheries, if we can find enough water. We should also remember that colonizers spending several years, and definitely eventual native Martians, will never be able to visit Earth, unless in a sophisticated exoskeleton power suit. Their bones will be too brittle and they will not have enough muscular mass to support them in a much heavier Earth gravity. This goes double for Moon colonists.

 

I saw one proposal on YouTube to use Martian regolith and autonomous printing robots to build a large outside dome enclosure for radiation and element protection, then the individual habitat units were constructed inside. But this would require availability of water to make regolith cement, and could take a few years (not a problem really).

 

So, is Mr. Musk’s musings about colonizing Mars in his timeframe realistic. IMO not. I could envisage going to Mars, planting a flag and bringing back some soil samples, in the next 10 years. Definitely sending more rovers and drones will happen over the years, but realistically, a colony not, even a self-sustaining one, is more likely 50 years away.

 

Will we humans leave our solar system and explore the Galaxy? In my mind, absolutely! But perhaps not for another 100-200 years, unless more advanced propulsion or space travel technologies are developed.  

14 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

 

 

Will we humans leave our solar system and explore the Galaxy? In my mind, absolutely! But perhaps not for another 100-200 years, unless more advanced propulsion or space travel technologies are developed.  

For all we know, planet earth is a  habitable project, and we at some time lost the connection! 

 

How much do you know about the Fermi Paradox? 

 

 

 

 

People smart enough to colonize and populate a planet, were not smart enough to leave any clues? 

1 hour ago, SpaceKadet said:

Huh? What have you smoking lately?

Believe what you like. Last thing I smoked was a 32lb albacore. 

23 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

People smart enough to colonize and populate a planet, were not smart enough to leave any clues? 

Could bee sending space crafts fertilizing a planet and spread dna that adopts constantly to changing enviroment! Or simple as I find plausable, life travels space on ice comets 

 

 

Study Suggests Life on Earth is the Result of Icy Comets

TOPICS:CometDNAEvolutionLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLife

 

https://scitechdaily.com/study-suggests-life-on-earth-is-the-result-of-icy-comets/

10 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Could bee sending space crafts fertilizing a planet and spread dna that adopts constantly to changing enviroment! Or simple as I find plausable, life travels space on ice comets 

 

 

Study Suggests Life on Earth is the Result of Icy Comets

TOPICS:CometDNAEvolutionLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLife

 

https://scitechdaily.com/study-suggests-life-on-earth-is-the-result-of-icy-comets/

You said: "For all we know, planet earth is a  habitable project, and we at some time lost the connection!", that's a lot different than an icy comet carrying DNA. 

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

You said: "For all we know, planet earth is a  habitable project, and we at some time lost the connection!", that's a lot different than an icy comet carrying DNA. 

Im open for any plausable theory, since there is no evidence for aliens, or anything else so far,  but we do send life out in space, so why should we think we are first if there is life out there? 

The Sun solar system and Earth is a sample/cross section of what exists in other regions of the galaxy and the universe 

1 minute ago, novacova said:

The Sun solar system and Earth is a sample/cross section of what exists in other regions of the galaxy and the universe 

Likely not true. 

 

"Every Grain is Unique

There are roughly 8,000,000,000 grains of sand per cubic meter of beach, and roughly 700,000,000,000 cubic meters of beach on Earth. That's 5 sextillion grains of sand. An incomprehensible number, and yet every sand grain is microscopically unique. Like a snowflake, no two are the same."

And it's likely not a single grain is symmetric. 

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

For all we know, planet earth is a  habitable project, and we at some time lost the connection! 

 

How much do you know about the Fermi Paradox? 

 

I thought that the OP asked for no UFO stories....

But let me say this, if I was a member of an advanced species with stellar travel capabilities, do you seriously believe that I would want to contact some hairy ape race that just got out of the stone age?

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

 

The Femi paradox is more about our nature, and why we will not leave the galaxy, as it explains why we haven't seen any aliens. 

 

The thread is old enough for some wider discussion now, and to be honest, it was already off 

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

And it's likely not a single grain is symmetric. 

 

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

Likely not true. 

 

"Every Grain is Unique

There are roughly 8,000,000,000 grains of sand per cubic meter of beach, and roughly 700,000,000,000 cubic meters of beach on Earth. That's 5 sextillion grains of sand. An incomprehensible number, and yet every sand grain is microscopically unique. Like a snowflake, no two are the same."

Of course everything is unique. Though there is enough information in this solar system and what we are able to observe in this galaxy and other galaxies that there are similarities. Here we have a sample of how evolution processes. What ever the other variants are and at what stage in distant regions, is of course a mystery.