I think fewer people would be excited about moving to Mars if they knew that they’d have to live in deep, shielded caves and that still might not be enough to save them. Good piece by @caleb_scharf on the hazards of living without a global magnetic field blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded…
One of the (rather few) pieces of science Andy Weir’s The Martian hand-waved around was the radiation shielding. In the book/film, a special fabric habitat was enough to protect the humans. Technology like that doesn’t exist. You need meters-thick water, ice, or rock.
“But we need a backup planet in case this one is ruined!”
There is virtually nothing we — or the Universe — could do to Earth that would make it less habitable than Mars. Global warming, nuclear winter, extinction-level asteroid... still easier to live in caves here than there.
There is virtually nothing we — or the Universe — could do to Earth that would make it less habitable than Mars. Global warming, nuclear winter, extinction-level asteroid... still easier to live in caves here than there.
