Over the past few decades, developments in the field of space flights and space exploration have gone so far that the time has come to wonder if it is worth sending people to Mars. Such a step would actualize the potential of space exploration. On the other hand, the appearance of humans on Mars may be premature. This paper aims to provide a discussion, whether humans should or should not visit Mars in the 2030s.
I believe that expeditions to Mars are premature, because after the first astronaut touches Martian soil, we may never know whether life was on Mars before humans arrived there. This opinion is shared by scientists Fairén, Parro, Schulze-Makuch, and Whyte (2017), who draw attention to the discrepancy between the two approaches to the study of this planet.
Scientists note that the first approach suggests delaying sending of Curiosity-type robots to areas where life can most likely be found since there is a risk of insufficient sterilization of mechanisms and the introduction of terrestrial bacteria. Another approach suggests sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. I agree with the scientists since they provide scientific evidence that bacteria imported from the surface of sterilized robots are not a threat to the purity of research, in contrast to the potential arrival of humans.
I believe that the very essence of science is to discover the unknown, and scientific discoveries are not always made within the framework of planned actions and goals. Thus, I do not agree with the statement that human-crewed flight to Mars is due only to the fact that this is the next logical step after a voyage to the moon (Rapp, 2016b). There is also an opinion that NASA will not complete its mission of sending a man to Mars due to the failure of its space exploration policy (Rapp, 2016a). However, I disagree with this statement, since the proof of NASA’s viability is the sending of the Curiosity rover to Mars, which has already proved to be successful.
Thus, it was discussed whether humans should visit Mars in the 2030s. I share the opinion of scientists who believe that before sending people to Mars, it is necessary to find the endemic life and provide proper conditions for the study of it. At the same time, I do not agree that NASA’s policies are unsound, or that the exploration of Mars is meaningless.
References
Fairén, A. G., Parro, V., Schulze-Makuch, D., & Whyte, L. (2017). Searching for life on Mars before it is too late. Astrobiology, 17(10), 962-970.
Rapp, D. (2016a). Why the NASA approach will likely fail to send humans to Mars for many decades to come. In Human Missions to Mars (pp. 383-420). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Rapp, D. (2016b). Why explore Mars? In Human Missions to Mars (pp. 1-15). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.