On the back of the recent flutter created by Elon Musk, where he unveiled his ambitious plans to colonize Mars (Well, he stated this ambition when he started SpaceX in 2002), I observed several arguments who have called him an Idiot and a Moron. The arguments ranges from

“Who in their right mind squander billions and trillions, when we have so many problems on Earth?”

“Why not invest in eradicating poverty, Dude!!”

“Hey, you couldn’t fix the climate on Earth ! How the f**k do you intend to create closed-loop biosphere on Mars!?”…

“We as species are viruses. We destroy everything we create. We are destined for doom, so why is this Idiot investing in Mars Colonization?”

With due respect, all are valid emotions. We are blessed with faculty of thought while cursed with biases and fallacies.

Why give a F**k?

What is considered a moronically crazy idea (especially bold research or vision) for a given generation usually turns out to be a savior of sorts with humongous alternative benefits when pursued.

You may have heard several accounts of the famous 1970 letter on “Why Explore Space?” by Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger (then, associate director of Science NASA) to the nun, Sister Mary Jucunda. The account goes that Sister Jucunda was angry with NASA investing in space research while there were millions dying in poverty and she had written to NASA to desist in such moronic jingoisms (I made that up, she was more polite and thoughtful). Dr. Stuhlinger had tried in his best mindset to say, listen, we are not ignoring poverty, there is a (then) $200-billion budget dedicated to fixing the earthly problems, we are only investing 1.6% into space exploration. The best part, the insights you gain from space research has orbit-shifting influence in earthly applications. Pretty much what he said in Summary.

The mention of space program in 1970 sounds as crazy as mentioning Mars exploration in 2016.

But proof of the pudding ? Well, you are reading this article on a device that remotely connects both of our thoughts in real-time isn’t it? How do you think that came to be? some research on communication satellites shall help :)

Sometimes, solutions to earthly problems does not come from the place where the problem persists. Science advances laterally, and sometimes in different dimensions and domains. As they say, you have to build a rocket ship to eliminate diseases and ailments on Earth (space exploration has shown huge and real advancements in medical science, genetic engineering, life extension sciences, which would not have been possible otherwise). There are also several advancements in manufacturing techniques which was invented to sustain space travel, that has huge impact on general manufacturing sector and composite materials, which in return has shown adjacent benefits in energy sectors. Freakonomics shows the co-relation between advancement in energy and reduction in poverty. Hell, there are several initiatives that invest heavily in Energy and Poverty research as well.

You have to invest in off-planet habitation research which has great influences in agri-science and food (quality) production on Earth. You have to invest in research on closed-loop biospheres on a planet that shares similar biosphere profile and mineral density as Earth, but one that does not have the rich ecological profile and is not already colonized (like Earth) so that run-away experiments (potentially disastrous) does not upset the ecological equilibrium.

In a way, the answer to sustainable living on Earth is hidden in striving to inhabit other planets.

The important thing about space exploration and research is not so much about fantasy, but some of the research cannot be duplicated on Earth unfortunately due to disadvantages of our biosphere. Infact, most of the research that is conducted on ISS (NASA, International Space Station) are about Clean Water, Energy, Food and Life extensions which cannot be reproduced on Earth and can only be conducted (or observed in alternate settings) in space.

Why Mars?

Firstly, off-planet habitation (colonizing other planets) is a critical topic. Almost all luminaries, experts and philosophers believe that Earth urgently needs an Insurance. Insurance in the form of BCP/DRP (Business Continuity Plan/ Disaster Recovery Plan, a tech jargon). Actually you should read this article from the famous cosmologist and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking “Abandon Earth or face Extinction” where he warns us to start planning now as we have about 200 years or so before things can go really really bad.

Now, why Mars? Well, Mars has a profile which is very similar to Earth. The human habitation condition on Mars is very similar to Earth. It has water underground and frozen at the polar caps, days are as long as Earth, the mineral density profile are similar, geological features are wet and hospitable, gravity is relatively lesser to support locomotion on land, the seasons and rotation patterns are similar, you have volcanoes, craters, valley, soil fertility and erosion ! (It has platinum, gold, silver too!).

Listen, the plausibility of Mars or space colonization is not an opinion or a debate that general public like me or you should have without having scientific background in our portfolio. This is not like electing our president or prime minister based on gut feel and emotions. We have to give the benefit of doubt to the Scientists (and the best minds out there) who have spent countless hours studying, debating and biting each other’s heads off, and most of them confirming that off-planet habitation is critical, space-exploration investment is needed and Mars is conducive for closed-loop biosphere. (No you can’t argue on this based on how you ‘feel’ about it, unless you are also a rocket scientist).

So what about people’s emotions?

If you catch me off-guard, I may land-up saying something really off-track about ‘How I feel about general public’s non-researched, so-called-expert-opinions’. But then again, I am not off-guard now ;)

If Elon Musk (or whoever) wants to invest his/their money in something crazy, so be it. It’s his hard earned money to squander. Is he a moron who did not do his research as much as you did? Maybe. But it is HIS money. Not tax payer’s money. When its tax payer's money, we should still support this if it is less than some overall percentage allocated for Research. (I would support this even if it was tax payer’s money btw, but would defer it to economists and renowned policy makers).

IMO, space colonization is a critical need. People who are investing in space exploration and colonization may not really be squandering their money at all and really on to something big that benefits us all here on Earth (Not Mars) and bless us with sustainable living.

It’s not just SpaceX who is investing in space colonization but many. So singling him out is a bit unfair (though he is more influential)

Also, there is substantially huge dollars already going into earthly problems, so a little bit of diversity in research is good. Think of it as a lottery for Earth on someone else’s money. Earth will always win regardless of whichever program succeeds with alternate benefits. Also, nothing bad can possibly come of it hopefully in the worst case!

And, the argument about “Humans are like viruses, who destroy everything they inhabit and doomed in fate, so why bother doing anything?” Well that one is too reductionist for me. I usually smile and do a shoulder-shimmy when I get stuck in that debate and slip out…

I get it. It’s quite provocative to call someone an idiot and a moron… It validates us.

It’s OK though, It’s all up in space anyway… Literally :)