Apparently two of the richest men in the world, Bezos and Musk, think that humans can move to Mars. This is an amazingly dumb idea. There are three things about Mars that cannot be changed and make it impossible for earth humans to live there - very weak gravity, no magnetic field, and it's very cold.
First, the gravity on Mars is 36% of the gravity on Earth. Humans, and animals, insects, plants, all living things have evolved over four billion years to live in a gravity of 32.2 ft/sec2. If humans and animals live in a very much weaker gravity it seems obvious to me that the bones will become weaker and weaker until they break and the skeletons of humans, and animals, simply break down and end up in long and painful deaths. How long would it take for the breakdowns of the skeletons? Five, ten, twenty years? I don't know and probably nobody does, but I would expect it to be a painful death sentence to try to live a life at 36% earth gravity.
Second, Mars does not have a molten iron core that rotates internally to the planet like Earth does. That means that it does not have a magnetic field surrounding the planet of Mars like Earth has a magnetic field that surrounds Earth. So what? Well, Earth's magnetic field protects Earth from the solar radiation and solar winds. On Earth the Ozone layer protects us from solar radiation which would eventually kill all humans and most life on the planet. Mars has no such protection. That is why Mars has no real atmosphere, there is a very slight CO2 atmosphere about 1% of the density of air on Earth's, so life cannot exist on the surface of Mars. Build domes that block the UV rays? Spend every living second in space suits? Are you kidding? To protect millions of replanted humans? Ludicrous.
Third, at the equator the temperature is about 70 deg F - at your feet - but because the atmosphere is so thin the temperature at your head is about 24 deg F. And elsewhere on the planet it is about -220 def F on the surface. So that requires a lot of heating to keep people alive. Ludicrous.
I am a big fan of NASA, as a scientific exploration of space. To expand what we know of the universe. But, NASA needs funding so it always promotes the idea of looking for life on other planets, and of course exploring Mars has always been exciting. Just don't think that somehow Mars can end up being the new Earth and be colonized by humans (and plants and animals and birds and insects and ...)
I understand that Bezos has always been a big fan of Star Trek. Me too. I saw all of Star Trek and Star Trek Next Generation. But it was never some kind of realistic idea of space travel, sorry. The Starship Enterprise had gravity - ?? - no, only if it travelled in space as a big rotating donut throwing Captain Kirk and Captain Pickard out to the rotating floor. And space travel - they could push a button and go very very fast, Warp 7! Wow. Well, that is supposed to be 7 times the speed of light. So, if you are trying to get to a planet 700,000 light years away, and go Warp 7, it takes only --- 100,000 years. Star Trek was a show that used the stage setting of space travel to tell wonderful stories of adventure, exploration, interpersonal dynamics, tolerance, dignity, courage, all the things that fiction is about. And it was wonderful.
Who knows what is in the head of Ketamine addled Musk?
But don't get on a spaceship to go live on Mars, please.
