Ask HN: How much time do we have to get to Mars?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18436159

by politician • 8 years ago

2 2 8 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Looking over the revised dates for climate change impacts got me thinking about shocks to global supply chains. Getting to Mars is hard, but one thing we often ignore is how the teams running the effort are fed back here on Earth.

How much tonnage could SpaceX launch to Mars before supply chain disruptions caused by climate collapse (e.g. ocean CO2 reuptake halting due to acidification) prevent subsequent missions?

explainplease• 8 years ago

What does it matter whether humans survive? If we're just animals with above-average intelligence and the ability to use tools, we're not ultimately more important than anything else in the universe, and we'll still amount to nothing in the end. So what does it matter whether the human species survives past this planet or past the solar system, etc?

This isn't a trite question, it's quite serious. Why do we assume that we are important enough that we need to survive as a species beyond earth? If humans are so destructive of their own environment, as many say, shouldn't we let that destructive habit end here, rather than spreading it to other worlds?

gus_massa• 8 years ago

IIRC even with the more pessimistic model the Earth will be habitable for humans for at least a few centuries. Do you have a link to an article with a shorter timeline estimation?

Ask HN: How much time do we have to get to Mars?

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