It is 240,000 miles to the moon. Sounds far to me. How far is Mars? Tens of millions to hundreds of millions of miles. Now that is far away!
Lots of people think going to Mars is a good idea. Some say the moon is a good destination for people. Human space travel is a dream. But humans in space is super expensive, super risky and super dumb.
What did we learn from ‘people on the moon’ that a robot could have done? What would a human on Mars tell us? Not much more than we already know. It is a hellish, hostile to life and an unlivable place.
Ideas are powerful. History shows us that people with the right ideas is a beautiful thing. People with the wrong ideas is horrific.
We know enough about the moon. We don’t need people living there. We know enough about Mars to know we don’t want people living there. We know the Earth is livable and this is where people belong. There are challenges right here on Earth.
Millions (maybe billions) of people are going to die or be displaced. Animals are going extinct. The Earth may become (more?) hostile to life. War, conflict and strife will become more likely. Survival here on Earth is the problem to solve. Peace on Earth is the problem to solve. Lack of good leadership is the problem we have.
The moon and Mars are just distractions, bright shiny objects for people to look at while other people go about their business of accumulating wealth and consolidating power. But all wealth and all the power will not keep you alive. We all die and the only thing that really matters is did you have any good ideas.
Good ideas are durable and valuable. Good ideas live on. Bad ideas die away. Are humans on Earth a bad idea?