The Chinese space agency, meanwhile, also wants to send astronauts to the moon.
In another, Elon Musk, the CEO of the American company SpaceX, has his own plans related to space. He said his long-term plan is to create a colony on Mars where humans could live land, external.
His idea is to use the Starship, a huge new vehicle his company is developing, to carry up to 100 people at a time, with the goal of a million people on Mars in 20 years, external.
“Musk argues that we need to move to Mars because it can be a backup for humanity if something catastrophic happens on Earth,” Dr. Weinersmith explains. “If you accept that argument, then sending people into space is necessary.”
However, there are many unknowns about life on Mars, including many technical challenges that she says remain unresolved.
“Maybe kids can’t thrive in that kind of environment,” she says. “There are ethical questions for which we do not have answers.
“I think we should slow down.”
However, Lord Rhys has his own vision in which human and robotic research can merge to the point where humans themselves become part of the machines to cope with extreme conditions. “I can imagine they’ll use all sorts of genetic modification techniques, cyborg additions and so on to deal with a very hostile environment,” he says.
“We may have a new species that will be happy living on Mars.”
Until then, however, humans will likely continue their baby steps into space along a path long trodden by robotic explorers before them.
Main image credit: NASA
