We're going to go to Mars really?

[Initech]

So one of the "highlights" of what was going to be in Trump's now not-happening second term was that we were going to build a permanent base on the moon and go to Mars. Elon Musk and his Space X group wants to colonize Mars and build cities and make their own laws. First off let's take into account that it takes two years to get to Mars and the costs to get to Mars currently are in the billions. Yes, billions. I have seen "The Martian". It's not cheap to get there by any means. Even in that movie, cost was a factor in attempting the rescue mission to pick up Mark Whatney. Really, Space Force is more of a Space Farce. It's an absolute joke of a program. It's science fiction apocalyptic fantasies now militarized in a sixth branch of the Pentagon.

Rather than indulge in far right space exploration and colonization fantasies, let's focus on the problems here on Earth first. Really, Space X wants to make its' own laws on Mars? Seriously considering the kind of people who actually want to go to Mars, I really give it a month before it turns into a Lord Of The Flies scenario. How long before Elon starts yelling out of a conch shell at the anti-government libertarians and conspiracy theorists who actually want to establish space colonies? Bet that doesn't last long.

How about this - rather than go to Mars why don't we fix the problems here on Earth in the USA before we start ruining other planets? Instead of finding potable water on Mars, how about we find potable water in Flint, Michigan? Instead of establishing a colony on Mars, how about we find homes for America's homeless people? Instead of building a link to Mars, how about we fix America's crumbling roads and infrastructure? Instead of establishing a military branch of science fiction warriors, why don't we put more into helping America's troops returning from actual combat? Instead of building spaceships to colonize Mars, how about we build hospitals and strengthen our nation's health resources so we can end this pandemic and we don't get warped into another one?

The thing is unlike Space Farce: Coast To Coast, these programs would pay for themselves multiple times over, and would actually use and create more resources. This isn't Elysium - the uber rich aren't going to live in their own floating space fortress and leave the rest of us to our own devices on what's left of our planet. We need to fix what we have before we start exploring new and uncharted territory. It will be great to get the adults back in charge because they will see reality instead of seeing science fiction and end of the world fantasies.

[OhZone]

1. 'Cause no extradiction treaty!

[Happy Hoosier]

2. Why not both?

If we wait for the world to be perfect, we will never do the aspirational

[Initech]

3. I like what Space X is doing as a corporation.

But I think Elon's long term goals of establishing colonies on Mars is completely insane.

[lagomorph777]

4. There will be plenty of commercial interest in asteroid mining.

Some of them may find a Mars base to be useful, and if so, the trillions of $$ in precious metals in the asteroid belt will easily pay for their bases.

Other than that, for now, robots are doing a great job of exploration.

[Initech]

7. Vibranium?

[Ilsa]

22. More likely unobtanium.

Unobtanium (pronounced un-ob-tain-ee-um) is a highly valuable mineral found on the moon Pandora. Humans mined unobtanium for energy generation, as the RDA was suppressing the development of alternatives on Earth.[1] The value and mining process of the mineral was the primary cause for the poor state of human and Na'vi relations, only worsening as the years progressed.

Also:
[3]The name "unobtanium" is an old engineering joke, and can be applied to any rare or hard to find material that has the properties needed to fulfil a given design, but is unobtainable. 

[4]This joke became a trope in science fiction: any material that is extremely useful (often crucial for all fictional technology), hard to find and is thus practically unobtainable is collectively described as unobtanium.

https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Unobtanium

[Silent3]

5. There's no need for scientific advancement to be treated as a zero-sum trade-off...

...with solving important problems right here on this planet.

As for "before we start ruining other planets", that's just plain silly.

[Initech]

6. I'm not saying "get rid of all scientific advancement".

I'm saying that I think we're a long way off before we start exploring and colonizing space, and Trump's idea of having a 6th branch of the military for fighting space battles was prematurely established.

And yes, that last line was meant to be a joke.

[Silent3]

8. I wasn't trying to over-characterize what you said as "get rid of all scientific advancement"...

...but a lot of people seem to be very down, for some reason, on space exploration in particular, dismissing it as an important part of scientific advancement, as if it should be relegated to last place after science directly devoted to, say, climate change and cures for diseases are all taken care of first.

[Initech]

11. I wouldn't say I am down on it.

I'm very much for it. As I said I do like what Space X is doing with space exploration. However, I think right now we're still a long way off from sending actual people into deep space. What I was saying is that Trump's idea of establishing a permanent base on the moon by 2024 is completely insane. No way that is happening.

[Silent3]

15. Oh, yes, I can definitely agree with that.

Both an insane time goal, and way-overreaching before we've even done a simple manned landing.

[Initech]

16. Seriously he can't even build a wall in Mexico!

[ret5hd]

9. Great SF story idea...

not enough volunteers for the space colonies...they start kidnapping homeless/poor, kinda like being Shanghai’s of past times.

Probably already been done.

[ismnotwasm]

10. Do we have enough radiation shielding technology to go interplanetary?

I like CJ Cherryh’s Merchants Alliance series as a picture of what can happen in the early days, then if we are ever able to go interstellar.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. Right now, Netflix couldn't even keep Away on the air...

...so I'm a bit bearish on the idea that we'll be on Mars within the next decade.

I admit, I'm a space geek and the notion of going to Mars seems very cool just for its own sake, but it will probably take a while for it to properly fall into place.

[orwell]

13. SPACE FORCE!

[TheBlackAdder]

14. Wait! I thought QAnon types said there was already a Martian Child Sex Colony.

[LPBBEAR]

17. Need to do both.

We need to do both. Of course address issues here on Earth but as the history of this planet shows the Human species needs to spread to other planets. Eventually, maybe not in our lifetime or our children's lifetime but eventually, something serious will threaten life on this planet. The longer we wait the more likely this scenario becomes.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

18. I saw an episode of "How the Universe Works"...

... or something of that ilk years ago, and completely dropped the idea of Mars colonization as feasible after scientists described the incredible struggles of doing it.

This YouTube video covers some of the problems:

If Elon Musk wants to die on Mars, he should go for it!

And it sounds like the kind of idea that would appeal to an IDIOT like Trump, with the further-annoying aspect of his authoritarian personality being that subservient-types will try to accommodate him despite how they should know better.

[0rganism]

19. a moon base is actually a really good idea imho

it should be an international effort, like with the ISS and not funded in a way that ignores the domestic concerns you raise

the moon is not as ridiculously far away as Mars and a more permanent presence there could open up some opportunities in superscalar construction, energy, and propulsion systems research. the moon is a natural space station for Earth, and has a denser supply of hydrogen isotopes used in nuclear reactions.

we should plan for a semi-permanent moon base long before rushing off to Mars.

[Initech]

20. I wouldn't trust Trump to build it through!

Given that he can't even build a wall in Mexico!

[0rganism]

21. oh hell no

i have serious doubts as to whether he's able to wipe his own ass

but i'm reasonably certain NASA & JPL still retain people who could contribute effectively