What Maciej Cegłowski thinks about space
Programmer and essayist, founder of the bookmarking service Pinboard, and author of the long-form technical essays at idlewords.com. Has written at length against sending human beings to Mars.
Maciej Cegłowski did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
8 dated positions, 2023, in their own words. Our reading of what Maciej Cegłowski has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsThe goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human beings to Mars, at least not anytime soon.
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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.
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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.
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Our readingThe 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.
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Their wordsSo I’ve come to believe the best way to look at our Mars program is as a faith-based initiative.
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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.
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Our readingLanding 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.
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Our readingPlanetary 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.