A Serious Conversation about the Future in Space

That said, I'm starting to think that Mars is going to be his Spruce Goose (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules). It's crazy, it's expensive, and at this point, it's an unnecessary moonshot that makes literal moonshots seem reasonable.

While I agree with the principle that humanity needs to be a multi-planet species if we're going to make it past all the Great Filters, I honestly don't think we're ready as a species. Technologically or organizationally. We can't even get half our population to admit that the climate is warming, but somehow we're supposed to get our shit together enough to colonize an entire planet?

And from a technological perspective, I'm continually amazed that the same people that fret and wring their hands about climate change seriously believe colonization of Mars is not going to be the most painful thing humanity has ever done. It will be fraught with death, expense, and replete with economic and social chaos. Ending all wars, enacting global healthcare and welfare policies, and rolling back climate change on Earth would be a cakewalk compared to building self-sufficient colonies on a planet that:

* Has no breathable atmosphere

* Has little usable water

* Is bombarded with deadly radiation

* Has no economic justification for colonization

The only reason to be going to Mars is that, statistically, in the next couple dozen million years the Earth might get a flat tire. I don't know - from what I've seen so far, I'm not sure humanity deserves to be the species that settles the Milky Way...

Even if the dream of colonizing mars is farfetched beyond fixing all of the problems we currently have on earth, it doesn't mean its not worth striving for. Goals like this drive people to do their best work and come up with creative solutions to problems that would otherwise never have been thought of. This is the exact kind of drive we need if we are to even have the chance at becoming interplanetary. Maybe we end up just getting to Mars and setting up an "antarctic" like lab that is occupied by teams for months at a time? That's fine. The innovation that got us even there would have been amazing. Maybe the goal then shifts to self-sustaining interplanetary spacecraft. Humanity isn't done yet, and not shooting for the far reaches of the galaxy is a waste of time that we cannot spare.

Musk Co. isn't just focused on that interplanetary goal. There's a lot that is also being done to make this planet better and prolong its life. These are honorable and not nearly as farfetched goals. Musk's drive to solve these problems is a real inspiration to many and may be our only chance in hell to pass through the Great Filters.