A reason for going to Mars

On Dec 12, 2008, at 1:17 AM, Richard wrote:

> Because it's there.
>
> I'm curious to know how you plan to stop people from going to Mars.
>

Nobody plans to stop it, and I'm sure people will go there. But the
economics do not favor living there in large numbers.

> Do you favor an absolute dictatorship?
>

You must be thinking of somebody else.

> Gravity wells may be inconvenient. But so far, we know of nobody
> living
> outside of one.
>

Unless you count living for months at a time on ISS. We also know of
nobody living off the Earth at all. That doesn't mean it won't happen
eventually.

> Besides I see it as stupid to ignore an entire planet.
>

Nobody's suggesting we ignore it. We're only suggesting that people
won't find it advantageous to actually live there, and the planetary
chauvinism that makes some of us currently think it is a good idea is
only a side-effect of our current experience living on Earth.

Best,
- Joe