Humans beyond Earth

Abstract

Humans have been a wildly curious species for millennia. From traveling across unmapped oceans to the first lunar steps, mankind had the ambition to explore dangerous, uncharted destinations. In 1966, the NASA budget was 4.41% of the Federal budget. Fifty years later, NASA’s budget was 0.50% of the Federal budget. While there is still strong interest in intermediate space, that's because it’s in the comfort zone of commercial interests with profit motives. We as a species need to resist this sole motivation. Many companies and governments won’t invest in a manned expedition to Mars since the profits would take decades to manifest (if there are any profits at all). However, recently a new breed of billionaires, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, realized the importance of investing in a Mars mission because of the positive impact for humanity later. Making a habitable colony for humans on Mars will be extraordinarily difficult - Mars is a hostile environment, but over time, impossible journeys evolve from difficult challenges to success. A trip to Mars would represent a leap in our maturity, a revitalization of the human spirit that charges into the unknown to understand and use it. This paper will research the challenges of getting to Mars and why we should go there. Who knows, we may find life under the dunes of Mars and discover we aren't the only ones.

Keywords: mission to Mars, space exploration, NASA, NASA private partnerships, SpaceX, Falcon Heavy, commercialization of space, pros and cons of funding a manned mission to Mars, overcoming scientific challenges to space habitation, living conditions on Mars