NASA Scientists plan on sending humans to Mars as soon as 2025. Evidence has surfaced that Mars may be fit enough to support human life. Mars is very far away (140 million miles to be exact) and we do not have technology advanced enough to support trips to Mars yet, but scientists have a solution. However, no one is asking should we leave Earth behind?

Scientists believe the Moon is a perfect testing ground and waystation for Mars. We can test new tools and systems that could be used on Mars. It would also be a sort of “gas station” for the space shuttle to refuel because the trip to Mars will need a lot of energy. The trip to Mars from Earth would take around seven months which is another factor that has scientists coming up with a solution for because humans are at threat from space radiation, as well as psychological and social issues from being stuck in a cramped space ship.

The largest limiting factor for the Mars mission is money. The estimated cost is roughly 500 billion U.S. dollars. Critics argue that the funding would be better spent on other science explorations like robotics or ocean exploration. I believe the benefits of Mars exploration outweighs the cost of it because soon Earth will be unfit to support human life. We should start sending humans soon because there is so much conflict in the world today and Earth is becoming polluted. If we keep it up we might even nuke our species off the planet. We can start on Mars by building outposts sustainable for human life and send humans out every two years with resources, technology, and equipment to help get a new life started on Mars.

Our future lies above us and it’s time to start exploring outside of our home to find our new one. Mars holds infinite success for science and economic markets as well as human survival. Space could hold new elements and materials or even new civilizations that we could begin trade with. We need to start putting our funding towards this goal so scientists can figure out the safest and fastest way to get to Mars. The future of our species lies within outer space.

Photo: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6427