Better the devil you know

There’s a saying that it’s better to trust the devil you know than the devil you don’t and in light of recent Mars explorations selling prime alien real-estate to the highest bidder, it is time to truly analyse the validity of humanity’s eminent backup plan, Mars.

I would personally rather brace the Australian Outback than relocate to a planet we have yet to physically set foot on (machines are not men), but the 200 000 people (yes that’s five o’s) who signed up for the first “privately funded planetary relocation mission” seem to disagree. The most disturbing part is that they are not alone and with 55% of NASA missions to Mars being unsuccessful, the question over whether these resources couldn’t be better spent elsewhere should be posed. Are we structuring our lives around an “if?” In spending our resources on gaining the stars we might end up losing our planet. These explorers aim to begin relocation to Mars by 2025, at the rate it is going, a lot more o’s of people are going to need to be added to that list. At the same time that we are discovering a treasure trove of possibly inhabitable planets, our own planet is sagging under the weight of humanity.

The great attraction of Mars is that newly discovered microscopic images revealed rippled bedding patterns in some of the finely layered rocks. This proves previous exposure to flowing water. So basically there used to be water on mars. Do you know what else used to have water? Eight Lakes ranging from the areas of Bolivia to Kazakhstan to Nevada which are now completely dried up. Coupled with the discovery of ice under the crust of Mars (we all know where Earth used to have ice), Mars appears to be our best bet.

But what if we didn’t need a backup plan? The more you look for other planets like Earth, the more we need to appreciate its uniqueness and preserve this. Preserve its oxygen and its flowing water, its moderate temperatures. We have to preserve the habitability of Earth. Mars won’t be able to save us from the imminent self-destruction of the only proven inhabited planet we know of, Earth.

I am not at all suggesting we not explore, but let’s explore the right places. Consider the extent to which we have not colonised our own deserts, places that are lush by comparison to Mars. Extreme desolate areas are new exploratory vistas with possibilities of resources, they are just closer to home.

Human inhabited land including both agricultural and urban areas mean only around 43% of earth’s land surface covered by humans. If I were to start digging for water, it would be there first. It’s better to take a risk with a planet we know, than a planet we don’t.

bye fore now

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