SPACE
When are we moving to Mars?
With wars raging and environmental collapse on the horizon, the idea of escaping to start again on another planet is gaining appeal. Both NASA and the Chinese are working on lunar bases. But how soon before the rest of us can take to the stars? And what about the planet we’d leave behind?
ILLUSTRATION: ZACH WIENERSMITH (PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE)
The idea of a mass human migration to space, the Moon or other planets is exciting, but… well, a little overzealous. As the authors of A City on Mars say: “An Earth with climate change and nuclear war and zombies and werewolves is still a better place than Mars.”
To find out why, we spoke to one of its authors, Dr Kelly Weinersmith, who, after years of research into space settlements, gave us the low-down on how long it’s really likely to be before humans can move beyond Earth.
WHY MIGHT IT NOT BE THE RIGHT TIME TO MOVE TO MARS?