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chalicotherex's review
2.0
My fondest dream reduced to a TED talk. The author gives a good overview of different plans for Mars, but seems to avoid the areas where we still don't know how we're going to cope (Where is the nitrogen going to come from? Won't we need more phosphorous? What are we doing about all of our equipment breaking down and colonists dying from dust fines?). Though learning about the MOXIE project was exciting.
The author goes on to make the libertarian argument that billionaires, not governments, will get us to Mars. There's only two ways that could happen: either billionaires suddenly develop a benevolence contrary to everything we know about humans or we promise them so much real estate and resources that we end up creating a new feudal age and launching all the problems of Earth out into the Solar System.
The idea that all we need to do is scale things up and find a way to finance it must be really depressing for actual rocket scientists.
The worst was this bit:
How about: 1. It's impossible. 2. I don't want to create an animal as smart as I am and in direct competition with me for the most basic necessity of life.
The book's not as bad as I'm making it out to be. We're probably going to need a lot of civic boosterism to get us to Mars, as slimey as that feels. It's actually a pretty good overview of the challenges facing us and what we need to be looking at.
I don't know. Maybe some dreams are too pure for this world. And Mars.
The author goes on to make the libertarian argument that billionaires, not governments, will get us to Mars. There's only two ways that could happen: either billionaires suddenly develop a benevolence contrary to everything we know about humans or we promise them so much real estate and resources that we end up creating a new feudal age and launching all the problems of Earth out into the Solar System.
The idea that all we need to do is scale things up and find a way to finance it must be really depressing for actual rocket scientists.
The worst was this bit:
Why can't we reengineer human lungs or human blood cells to split the carbon atom from the CO2 molecule? It seems naïve to think we won't be able to do that within three hundred years.
How about: 1. It's impossible. 2. I don't want to create an animal as smart as I am and in direct competition with me for the most basic necessity of life.
The book's not as bad as I'm making it out to be. We're probably going to need a lot of civic boosterism to get us to Mars, as slimey as that feels. It's actually a pretty good overview of the challenges facing us and what we need to be looking at.
I don't know. Maybe some dreams are too pure for this world. And Mars.
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