Ars Technica
Should the US prioritize settling Mars?
Should we all just read A City on Mars and call the whole thing off?
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/should-the-us-prioritize-settling-mars/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
Should we settle Mars, or is it a dumb idea for humans to live off world?

Should we all just read A City on Mars and call the whole thing off?

Ars Technica
Apr 14 at 9:57pmBot Posts (testing)
Show threadNiels MoseleyApr 14
@arstechnica Yes, please send all of the US to Mars.
Show threadDerick RethansApr 14
@trcwm @arstechnica Both! It's a great read.
Show threadMilosApr 15
@trcwm @arstechnica It would be sufficient to just send the MAGA leadership. One Starship should be enough. We don't even have to worry about soft landing.
Show threadDragon-sided DApr 15

@doctor_zoidberg @trcwm @arstechnica Here's the thing -- MAGA was created in part by Russian, Iranian, and Chinese psyop/influence campaigns.

We need the equivalent opposite. Viral MAGA-oriented TikToks, not Ad Council AM radio spots.

We need viral posts with MAGA heroes who show how awesome and powerful America is because of Science and Democracy

EDIT: The whole idea of colonizing Mars makes *no sense* with current technology. O'Neill cylinders, though, are feasible

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-k4.ggKW.vz3fuOVnbhZs&smid=url-share

The Agency

From a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg, Russia, an army of well-paid “trolls” has tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet — and in real-life American communities.

The New York Times
Show threadMilosApr 15
@dragonsidedd @trcwm @arstechnica Yup, but it is much easier to stir negative emotions, such as fear, hatred and mistrust.
Show threadthese machines will destroy US.Apr 14

@arstechnica please go...and take them with you...

(You know who)

Show threadMichael K 🔜 Apr 14
@arstechnica The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing enough people that going to mars would solve all their problems.
Show threadԎєηυкι, 手抜き🚀🐧♏ 🔭 ⚫⚪Apr 14
@arstechnica
and don't forget to take spiders with you 😉 Burying Bowies ashes there is another idea, too.
Show threadstony karkApr 14
@arstechnica I 100% support all americans being shipped off to mars
Show threadklxApr 14
@arstechnica they can barely settle wyoming. an irradiated airless dustbowl of poison... oh wait, new mexico. hmm.
Show threadPēteris KrišjānisApr 14
@arstechnica USA should prioritise to survive this year I feel.
Show threadMike J👹🐀 🤘🏻Apr 15
@arstechnica Send every Republican. Tell them it's all going to work out fine.
Show threadMarc EtienneApr 15

@arstechnica just remember, when @ZachWeinersmith started writing that book, he was a lot more optimistic about settling Mars.

The reality is depressing, Mars is simply too hostile and too far away.

Show threadDarren WheatleyApr 15
@arstechnica TARIFF MARS!! Those Martians have treated us very unfairly, everyone says so.
Show threadTofm2Apr 15
@arstechnica @tenjinuk You are true, they are very very mean, I have been told. Bad martians !🤣😂
Show threadMilosApr 15
@arstechnica If settling is the option, what about tariffs?
Show threadPete Alex Harris🦡🕸️🌲/∞🪐∫Apr 15

@arstechnica
Colonial settler projects depend on vital resources already being managed by people you can steal them from. If the US had had to be built from scratch on Antarctica it'd have died out in a few years. Mars is *considerably* worse than Antarctica.

Therefore, yes they should. Fuck em.

Show threadSharpe!Apr 15
@arstechnica Space Billionaires? Yes.
Show threadMartin VogelApr 15
@arstechnica
How deep underground do you have to bury the capsules so that anyone crammed into them survives at least the first years without dying by cosmic radiation?
#mars
Show threadPJ CoffeyApr 15

@arstechnica

I don't think A City On Mars says it's impossible to settle Mars. What it says is that it will be very, very difficult and identifies the current significant technical, social, political, and legal barriers that exist.

Whining about someone properly scoping the problems out doesn't exactly scream "steely eyed missile man" to me. It's the people saying it should be easy that need to get it together.

Show threadWesDymApr 16
@Homebrewandhacking Pretty much, yeah. Mars is much more like the Moon than it will ever be like Earth. It's half the diameter, 1/3 the gravity, almost no magnetosphere to protect from radiation, very little atmosphere to speak of and it's toxic to us, very cold, no surface water of any note, sterile soils that are probably toxic to our plants, and on and on. Living there will much more like living on the Moon than on Earth. Very difficult and impractical, if it's doable at all.
Show threadPJ CoffeyApr 16

@wesdym

Well, the dust is not to be ignored eh?

Show threadWesDymApr 16
@Homebrewandhacking If you're basing that concern on that crappy book and film, then no.
Show threadPJ CoffeyApr 16

@wesdym

Oh dear. The problems with lunar dust are well known and have been since the 60s. Martian dust being similar seems likely and reasonable.

It's a great book. Well researched, and points out key areas where hopium is replacing actual plans and technology.

Show threadMichkovApr 15
@arstechnica It's a wide berth between Go settle Mars and stay home. Have you even considered a lakeside house on Titan?
Show threadYoo ChungApr 15

@arstechnica The US should prioritize _sticking to a plan_. The biggest thing slowing down US space ambitions is changing plans every 5-10 years for things that need 10-20 years to do.

It would be less of a problem if unlimited money was thrown at NASA to solve all problems, but NASA hasn't had such luxury for more than 50 years.

Show threadCley FayeApr 15

@arstechnica Or read the book and address some issues with the power that's needed to not get off on the wrong foot.

Lol jk let's plunder everything and cause more mass destruction

Show threadAlerta! Alerta!Apr 15

@arstechnica I'm all for sending several arks to mars.... and have all the important people in the first ark so they can prepare everything for the remaining arks.....

They are important after.all amd we can't.possibly survive without them....

Show threadPatrick Morris MillerApr 15
@arstechnica Never send an astronaut to do a probe's job.
Show thread60sRefugeeApr 15
@arstechnica We should:
1. Let private enterprise make space launch as inexpensive and routine as possible– something that top-down government programs have manifestly failed to do and probably never can for institutional reasons (see Apollo, Shuttle, SLS).
2. If private endeavors are willing to try things, even if they fail, that governments don't have the will to do, then at least get out of their way.
Show threadStampeding Longhorn Apr 16
@arstechnica The human psyche is not capable of colonizing space effectively yet. Alaska is a top state for mental health issues and murders. The body needs sunshine and warmth to prosper.
Show threadティージェーグレェApr 16
Hell No!

Humans should stop wasting resources on Moon missions too; we already know that both places are incapable of sustaining life as we know it.

Ignore Gil Scott-Heron at your own peril:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otwkXZ0SmTs
Gil Scott-Heron Whitey on the moon.avi

YouTube