What could, or rather should, be pondered is whether by turning our attention to space we would be giving up our own planet, since all inhospitable environment found in Mars can be found here on Earth with the advantage of having magnetic field, Atmosphere, gravity and source of heat with bearable variation, for instance, in desert places like Mojave, Aconcagua, Sahara or our poles.

It is peculiar that not only Elon Musk but several other organisations are applying a huge effort to accomplish this task. Would there be another major reason unknown to mere mortals?

What kind of people would accept to go in such project, knowing that communication will not be possible for a certain time periodically? Most certainly not the brightest minds will.

I won’t even get into deep about the time it will take to get there and the possible mental issues anyone might have during almost seven months of travel. There is absolutely no way to foresee behavior of people who will be submitted to this level of stress.

I fear academy is no longer in charge of paving the best roads for mankind but protecting the interest and/or vanities of few powerful, yet not as bright, people who simply have no better way to share their fortunes in a beneficial way with the ones who truly could use it.

As an astrophysicist, I tend to look a lot farther ahead our time and it’s just too sad people don’t live long enough to suffer the consequences of their own mistakes.

Godspeed