Think of the Earth as a Hard Drive...

[What Would Jesus Do?]

http://www.techinsider.io/elon-musk-mars-colonies-human-survival-2015-10



Imagine Earth as a hard drive, and every species is a word document saved on that hard drive. The hard drive has already crashed five times (those five mass extinctions), and each time it loses a huge chunk of those documents (species going extinct). So you can think of the human species as an incredibly valuable document created on that hard drive:

Now—if you owned a hard drive with an extraordinarily important Excel doc on it, and you knew that the hard drive pretty reliably tended to crash every month or two, with the last crash happening five weeks ago—what’s the very obvious thing you’d do? You’d copy the document onto a second hard drive.

That's exactly why Musk is so hell-bent on Mars — it could become humanity's backup drive.

Musk doesn't want to send a handful of colonists, either; he'd like to launch 1 million people to the red planet. If we want anything resembling the industry and infrastructure here on Earth, and ample genetic diversity, then we'll need at least that many people to get things going. That's the only way we'll survive as a species on Mars, Musk reportedly told Urban.

Later this year, via his rocket company SpaceX, Musk plans to reveal a spacecraft designed to carry as many as 100 people at a time to the red planet.

 

[TexMichFan]

A rocket would be able to make 3-4 trips a year. That is going to take a lot of rockets to move and then service that many people.

 

[Joes Place]

http://www.techinsider.io/elon-musk-mars-colonies-human-survival-2015-10



Imagine Earth as a hard drive, and every species is a word document saved on that hard drive. The hard drive has already crashed five times (those five mass extinctions), and each time it loses a huge chunk of those documents (species going extinct). So you can think of the human species as an incredibly valuable document created on that hard drive:

Now—if you owned a hard drive with an extraordinarily important Excel doc on it, and you knew that the hard drive pretty reliably tended to crash every month or two, with the last crash happening five weeks ago—what’s the very obvious thing you’d do? You’d copy the document onto a second hard drive.

That's exactly why Musk is so hell-bent on Mars — it could become humanity's backup drive.

Musk doesn't want to send a handful of colonists, either; he'd like to launch 1 million people to the red planet. If we want anything resembling the industry and infrastructure here on Earth, and ample genetic diversity, then we'll need at least that many people to get things going. That's the only way we'll survive as a species on Mars, Musk reportedly told Urban.

Later this year, via his rocket company SpaceX, Musk plans to reveal a spacecraft designed to carry as many as 100 people at a time to the red planet.

Except that the most INhospitable places on Earth are STILL vastly more hospitable than Mars.

A better strategy is to build a giant underground bunker system on Earth that can house a few thousand people for whatever the apocalypse brings.

 

[22*43*51]

A better strategy is to build a giant underground bunker system on Earth that can house a few thousand people for whatever the apocalypse brings.

That's been done.

You didn't get your pass yet?... Oh. (Awkward)

 

[markfromj]

It has long been stated: The dinosaurs would have survived if they had had a space program.

 

[HawkAttackDial911]

That Excel file is much less valuable than you think.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

"Speak for yourself. I plan to live forever."

 

[KitingHigh]

Why would it be important for mankind to continue forever?

 

[22*43*51]

Why would it be important for mankind to continue forever?

We're vain like that.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Why would it be important for mankind to continue forever?

It's not....we should just cease to exist. That would be more convenient.

 

[22*43*51]

It will be interesting. Musk will essentially have his own planet at that point.

That won't be an American flag planted in the Martian soil, but rather a SpaceX flag.

It will be the first privately owned planet.

Yeah Capitalism!

 

[markfromj]

It will be interesting. Musk will essentially have his own planet at that point.

That won't be an American flag planted in the Martian soil, but rather a SpaceX flag.

It will be the first privately owned planet.

Yeah Capitalism!

Not true. International law long ago established that first visitation does not establish ownership. The US does not own the moon.

 

[22*43*51]

Not true. International law long ago established that first visitation does not establish ownership. The US does not own the moon.

No. But, if he lands a couple hundred thousand people on a planet with his equipment supported by his company, what is anyone really going to do about the decisions he makes on Mars.

SpaceX would have first and ultimately last say as to how that operation would be run.

 

[markfromj]

No. But, if he lands a couple hundred thousand people on a planet with his equipment supported by his company, what is anyone really going to do about the decisions he makes on Mars.

SpaceX would have first and ultimately last say as to how that operation would be run.

True. But it will never happen.

 

[naturalmwa]

No. But, if he lands a couple hundred thousand people on a planet with his equipment supported by his company, what is anyone really going to do about the decisions he makes on Mars.

SpaceX would have first and ultimately last say as to how that operation would be run.

This sounds like the plot to many a sci fi story.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

A rocket would be able to make 3-4 trips a year. That is going to take a lot of rockets to move and then service that many people.

That's what I was thinking, too. Imagine you launched one every month, on average. After 10 years you have around 10,000 people. Or however many survived. Plus some born on Mars. That's a lot of people, but a far cry from the goal.

Of course there's no reason to limit the launches to 1 per month. But imagine the resources involved. Plus all the launches to deliver supplies and equipment until the colonists can become self-sufficient.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for it. We haven't had a positive endeavor on that scale since ...? Ever? Plenty of negative endeavors like wars.

I was around for the Moon landings. Take all the pot shots you want at the space program. The bottom line is that it felt good. It was inspiring. It was uplifting. And there were plenty of positive tech spinoffs.

We haven't been back to the Moon - or even left orbit - in 43 years. How many wars have we fought in that time? Is there ANYBODY who thinks those wars were the better investment? Not that those were the choices we were offered. I understand that. But what if we had made those the choices. Even if you think a couple of those wars weren't optional, most were - and we could have chosen differently.

 

[Joes Place]

A rocket would be able to make 3-4 trips a year. That is going to take a lot of rockets to move and then service that many people.

Not completely true; orbits for Earth and Mars have to be 'in phase' to enable travel between. Those windows only occur every so many months or years. So, you cannot just send up a rocket anytime, you have to do it when the planetary orbits match up to do it, or it takes a LOT longer to get there/back, and it requires much more fuel.

In other words, you're going to have 'blackout' times when you would not be able to re-supply a Mars colony.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Except that the most INhospitable places on Earth are STILL vastly more hospitable than Mars.

A better strategy is to build a giant underground bunker system on Earth that can house a few thousand people for whatever the apocalypse brings.

Not to sound too OiTish, but why do you think our laws are designed to greatly in crease wealth inequality?

The very wealthy can build their own safety bubbles. Would it surprise you to learn that some are already beginning to do so?

We could, of course, use a lot of that wealth on a Manhattan-on-steroids program to save the entire ecosphere. But if you are rich enough to create your own safe zone, why would you take the risk?

 

[TexMichFan]

That's what I was thinking, too. Imagine you launched one every month, on average. After 10 years you have around 10,000 people. Or however many survived. Plus some born on Mars. That's a lot of people, but a far cry from the goal.

Of course there's no reason to limit the launches to 1 per month. But imagine the resources involved. Plus all the launches to deliver supplies and equipment until the colonists can become self-sufficient.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for it. We haven't had a positive endeavor on that scale since ...? Ever? Plenty of negative endeavors like wars.

I was around for the Moon landings. Take all the pot shots you want at the space program. The bottom line is that it felt good. It was inspiring. It was uplifting. And there were plenty of positive tech spinoffs.

We haven't been back to the Moon - or even left orbit - in 43 years. How many wars have we fought in that time? Is there ANYBODY who thinks those wars were the better investment? Not that those were the choices we were offered. I understand that. But what if we had made those the choices. Even if you think a couple of those wars weren't optional, most were - and we could have chosen differently.

It would be an awesome accomplishment to get 10,000 people there and be able to support them.

I think the cost would dwarf what we spend on wars. The biggest rocket we have sent into space is 6 people so one for 100 people is going to be phenomenally expensive and you would have to launch more than one a month since some would have to just be supplies.

This probably seems to me about as likely to happen as landing a man on moon seemed to my parents so never say never.

 

[Chewback]

Hmm. If a nearby star explodes Mars may not fare any better than earth.

 

[22*43*51]

This sounds like the plot to many a sci fi story.

You're the one always saying we're following the Star Trek model of world government.

My theory follows the Alien/Avatar model of "the Company".

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Hmm. If a nearby star explodes Mars may not fare any better than earth.

True, but it probably improves the odds. For example, one of the planets could be somewhat shielded by the sun. I don't know enough of the physics to know if that would make a significant difference. Just throwing it out there.

More likely are our own efforts to destroy our planet or an asteroid or some pandemic that might spare our other "home."

I would like to think that humans inhabiting other parts of the solar system is inevitable. But it's not clear that we will make the decisions that get us there - or even keep us technologically capable of getting there.

 

[naturalmwa]

Hmm. If a nearby star explodes Mars may not fare any better than earth.

If that was the end point I think you would be right. But if we really establish the 51st state on Mars that would not be the end. We would figure out a way to travel quickly, cheaply and safely between the planets. Once we have that solved, we aren't going to stay put. Settling Mars permanently will shift focus from a rocket that can take out an Iranian reactor to one that can be powered indefinitely with its own reactor.

 

[TexMichFan]

If that was the end point I think you would be right. But if we really establish the 51st state on Mars that would not be the end. We would figure out a way to travel quickly, cheaply and safely between the planets. Once we have that solved, we aren't going to stay put. Settling Mars permanently will shift focus from a rocket that can take out an Iranian reactor to one that can be powered indefinitely with its own reactor.

Yep, Star Trek type stuff but when my Mom was a kid she remembers how amazed her parents were to be able to sit around and listen to a radio. Heading to see my Mom for her 85th birthday this weekend.

 

[Chewback]

If that was the end point I think you would be right. But if we really establish the 51st state on Mars that would not be the end. We would figure out a way to travel quickly, cheaply and safely between the planets. Once we have that solved, we aren't going to stay put. Settling Mars permanently will shift focus from a rocket that can take out an Iranian reactor to one that can be powered indefinitely with its own reactor.

Ah, quickly, cheaply and safely. There's the rub. Perhaps Elon has discovered some magical unobtanium that will shield the occupants from deadly radiation and simultaneously propel the rocket at previously unimagined speed. Cheap unobtanium. Perhaps. I guess this keeps him out of other mischief.

 

[bagdropper]

Don't forget the 10 to 1 ration women to men, and the end of the so-called monogamous relationship. It is a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Don't forget the 10 to 1 ration women to men, and the end of the so-called monogamous relationship. It is a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

I see no downside.

 

[naturalmwa]

Don't forget the 10 to 1 ration women to men, and the end of the so-called monogamous relationship. It is a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

Or they send all women and several tubes of sperm.

 

[NoleSoup4U]

If I stomp on the ground, will it draw me some Brazilian fart fetish porn in the dirt?