Living on Mars has been the dream of many scientists, futurists, and ordinary people. But why? Why would anyone want to trade warm, cozy Earth for a brutal freezer like Mars?
We humans are perfectly adapted to our native planet. And we’re totally unadapted to living on Mars.
The main purpose of a space colony is, in a word, science. By studying Mars, we learn more about how our planet formed. A Mars base could act as a stepping-stone to the rest of the solar system. It could even teach us how to set up other bases on more distant planets or asteroids. But it won’t happen tomorrow. . . if ever. It’s just not that easy to turn Mars into a place where people would have what they need to survive.
