It would be so cool if we found that life exists (or existed) on Mars. I'd be particularly interested to find out if it would be related to Earth life or developed independently.
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Lucy (PieFed edition) [she/faer] - 3day
The report outlines 11 top-priority science objectives.
4. Crew health: How do humans fare psychologically, cognitively, and physically in the Martian environment?
Something something guinea pigs
Unrelated to the above: I don't really look forward to human colonization of other planets (yes I know this article isn't about colonization, it just made me think of it). Like, we were given (by chaos' grace) literally the best planet possible to live on and we managed to ruin, and even as learned that what we are doing to our beloved Gaia, we just didn't stop!
And given that people like Musk and Bezos are definitely gonna play a big role in human expansion to the void, I'm even more pessimistic. If we can't even behave yourself in our own home, why do we expect to be able to behave in these so-much-more-hostile places??
Sorry for the pessimism ._.
edit: changed "Theia" to "Gaia"
4
AngryCommieKender @lemmy.world - 2day
Theia was/is a recognized planetary body. It was the second planetoid in Proto Earth's orbit around the sun. At some point around 4-5 billion years ago, the two collided and for a very brief period we had two moons. The bigger one fell back to Earth, and the smaller one got ejected into a higher orbit where it remains to this day.
I guess we could call Earth Theia, but she was the smaller of the two proto-planets as far as we can tell.
3
Lucy (PieFed edition) [she/faer] - 14hr
You're right I meant to say "Gaia" not "Theia". My bad.
2
kubofhromoslav @lemmy.world - 2day
Yes, we behave terribly on Earth. But on Mars there are no plants and animals to destroy, and unless we are super sustainable, we die in matter of months or years. So we either solve the problem ourselves or the problem solves itself. Clear win.
2
ToastedRavioli @midwest.social - 2day
There are also no pesky earth laws in space, which seems like part of why people like Bezos and Musk are heavily invested in going up there. They imagine a world where they control everything, including all communication with earth, can enforce whatever rules they want, and even literally enslave people. How would anyone ever know whatever theyre doing to people out there? I bet theyll even offer the opportunity to move to a martian colony for free to entice people into the trap
2
Lucy (PieFed edition) [she/faer] - 14hr
Well, there's no way we will stop on Mars. It's just our first step. If it was just about reaching the Moon and Mars that'd be fine by me but people with space ambitions are dreaming about drilling to Enceladus' ocean and colonizing other moons.
And these rich guys? They don't even care about laws here on Earth. There's literally NO way anyone could stop them from ruining other life-bearing worlds.
nemeski in space
In a major new report, scientists build rationale for sending astronauts to Mars
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/in-a-major-new-report-scientists-build-rationale-for-sending-astronauts-to-mars/It would be so cool if we found that life exists (or existed) on Mars. I'd be particularly interested to find out if it would be related to Earth life or developed independently.
Something something guinea pigs
Unrelated to the above: I don't really look forward to human colonization of other planets (yes I know this article isn't about colonization, it just made me think of it). Like, we were given (by chaos' grace) literally the best planet possible to live on and we managed to ruin, and even as learned that what we are doing to our beloved Gaia, we just didn't stop!
And given that people like Musk and Bezos are definitely gonna play a big role in human expansion to the void, I'm even more pessimistic. If we can't even behave yourself in our own home, why do we expect to be able to behave in these so-much-more-hostile places??
Sorry for the pessimism ._.
edit: changed "Theia" to "Gaia"
Theia was/is a recognized planetary body. It was the second planetoid in Proto Earth's orbit around the sun. At some point around 4-5 billion years ago, the two collided and for a very brief period we had two moons. The bigger one fell back to Earth, and the smaller one got ejected into a higher orbit where it remains to this day.
I guess we could call Earth Theia, but she was the smaller of the two proto-planets as far as we can tell.
You're right I meant to say "Gaia" not "Theia". My bad.
Yes, we behave terribly on Earth. But on Mars there are no plants and animals to destroy, and unless we are super sustainable, we die in matter of months or years. So we either solve the problem ourselves or the problem solves itself. Clear win.
There are also no pesky earth laws in space, which seems like part of why people like Bezos and Musk are heavily invested in going up there. They imagine a world where they control everything, including all communication with earth, can enforce whatever rules they want, and even literally enslave people. How would anyone ever know whatever theyre doing to people out there? I bet theyll even offer the opportunity to move to a martian colony for free to entice people into the trap
Well, there's no way we will stop on Mars. It's just our first step. If it was just about reaching the Moon and Mars that'd be fine by me but people with space ambitions are dreaming about drilling to Enceladus' ocean and colonizing other moons.
And these rich guys? They don't even care about laws here on Earth. There's literally NO way anyone could stop them from ruining other life-bearing worlds.