Eventually, Someone Will Make It

I contributed to this article on Mars colonization for FACTOR magazine (UK, online); "THE FIRST STEPS: HOW THE PIONEERING MARS COLONISTS WILL SURVIVE".

Mars settlement is not assured, but neither was reaching the Moon, or a thousand other big achievements for our species, all of which were called 'crazy dreaming' at the start; flight itself, sequencing genomes, electrical power, radio waves...climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen...certainly all achievements and none started by entirely safe, entirely rational people with entirely safe & rational plans...we must accept some risk if we're ever to step out the front door.

I conclude the article, stating "I think there will be international human-crewed explorations in the next couple of decades. They will be like the first to the Moon or the South Pole – long, risky and expensive, with some catastrophes...But that will not stop anyone, and in fact will only increase the will to succeed. In the end, as with the invention of the aeroplane, someone will make it.” Thanks to interviewer Mark Blaney Stuart!