9 korrents from this piece
Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.
Their wordsThe goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human beings to Mars, at least not anytime soon.
Their wordsBut fifty years of progress in miniaturization and software changed the balance between robots and humans in space.
Their wordsIn 2023, we simply take it for granted that if a rocket goes up carrying passengers, it’s not going to get any work done.
Their wordsThe ISS crew spend most of their time fixing the machinery that keeps them alive, and when they have a free moment for science, they tend to study the effect of space on themselves.
Our reading
The crewed Mars programme is the biggest project in history and nobody can say what it is for.
Their wordsSomehow we’ve embarked on the biggest project in history even though it has no articulable purpose, offers no benefits, and will cost taxpayers more than a good-sized war.
Their wordsSo I’ve come to believe the best way to look at our Mars program is as a faith-based initiative.
Their wordsWith our current capability, NASA would struggle to keep a crew alive for six months on the White House lawn, let alone for years in a Martian yurt.
Our reading
Landing people on Mars would contaminate it and destroy the evidence of life we went there to find.
Their wordsLike careless investigators who didn’t wear gloves to a crime scene, we would risk permanently destroying the evidence we came to collect.
Our reading
Planetary protection rules will keep astronauts on Mars away from everything on Mars worth studying.
Their wordsThe phenomena of greatest scientific interest on Mars (gullies, recurrent slope lineae, intermittent methane sources, and underground water) will all be off-limits to astronauts.