Sceptic: “People should not colonize Mars!”

Me: “Why not?”

Sceptic: “Because it’s a shithole. No air, no warmth, no protection from Gamma Rays. Nothing to see. Nowhere to go. Just a bit of filthy water miles underground to get excited about. Jeez. Now it seems even the surface is coated with poisonous chemicals which would make any outside trip into an ordeal. Flipping heck what a dump. You can keep it and leave it to the rovers.”

Me: “All those reasons are EXACTLY why we should go to Mars. The hostile environment there would move us to the next stage in technological progress as we would seek to find ways to make the planet comfortable, if not habitable with time. And btw, it is true that toxic perchlorates cover large areas of Mars. However, don't we have bacteria on Earth that specifically feed on perchlorates and reduce them to chlorine and free oxygen? Ins't that an area worth exploring on Mars? The moon gave us dozens of inventions, from foam mattresses to CT Scan machines, I expect a Mars Mission will be even more productive technologically, especially when it comes to the area of gamma rays and cancer research. And we need to be in space to find stuff and to get away from all those asteroids bombarding Earth!”

Sceptic: “The human ape in space to find what? They will get stoned as these asteroids are everywhere.”

Me: “Since people became aware that the Chicxulub crater matches the dinosaur’s extinction, space exploration has become more than a hobby. There are a lot of rocks flying at high speed around earth, and it only takes one to put everything else in perspective. It’s good to see that space flight is again a contest, because there is no evolution without competition. Hopefully one or more will figure out how to detect and destroy asteroids before they destroy us. It could be a million years until the next one comes, or it could be just one year, so the sooner we get ready, the better.” ( )