Stephen Petranek, a journalist and technology forecaster, presented a few very interesting facts at his March 2015 TED Talks session in Vancouver, Canada. Before beginning, Petranek told the audience to strap in, because they were going to Mars. He reassured some members of the audience that they would be involved in Mars projects at some point. Thousands will colonize Mars very soon. Their kids may be born and live on Mars. And Earth is in danger of being struck by an asteroid. It was encouraging, yet depressing asteroid related news all within the first minute. Petranek made it very clear, that in order for the human race to survive, Mars must be reached and colonized. Let’s hope a giant asteroid won’t strike Earth before Elon Musk can get people there.
An Asteroid to Destroy Earth
The multi-country space race to the Red Planet may have something to do with asteroids coming alarmingly close to Earth. The private space companies are also in the Martian business, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The Chelyabinsk meteor was caused by a near-Earth asteroid that hit Russia in 2013. This is a real concern, and Petranek seems very convincing during his presentation. He never mentioned another possible cause. Does he know something we don’t? Do NASA and Elon Musk know the same secrets? There may be an asteroid targeting our unsuspecting planet now.
Is Moving to Mars Even Possible?
Interestingly, humans are explorers by nature. We need to take better care of Earth, and we could potentially destroy Mars in the distant future. Just like we are destroying Earth. It would be a pretty surreal moment to look back at Earth from the Red Planet and realize how good we had it. Mars is much smaller than Earth, but it has more land. It also boasts a thinner atmosphere and reaches average temperatures of -81 degrees. Seasons are twice as long, and there is less gravity. Despite the Red Planet’s pitfalls, it truly is the best option for human life to continue.
Who Will Get Us There?
We are 250,000,000 miles from our future Martian home. It would take eight months to make a one-way trip. It also isn’t that easy to get there. Out of the 44 combined missions by various countries, the Red Planet has only been reached one-third of the time. Not the best odds. And we don’t even have a rocket capable of getting us there. According to NASA, 2040 is the best year for humans to land on Mars. However, Petranek is convinced that Elon Musk and SpaceX will make us Martians by 2027. In fact, Petranek believes that private space companies are our only hope for reaching the Red Planet in a timely manner. Once there, we will need to warm the planet up, but we have proven effective in that department.
