Mars To Stay

This is one of the most frustrating questions to answer, simply because it seems so logical to do it. However, the fact is, most people aren’t interested. The greatest problem with space exploration is that people don’t talk about it or care as it doesn’t directly affect them, therefore there is no hype or excitement to do it. Even if people understood all the benefits, we would still question whether there would be much interest, simply because it needs to be accompanied by enthusiasm and hype. If a load of celebrities started taking an interest, it would probably become more popular. But sadly people would rather talk about a famous singer or actor doing something stupid than talk about a mission to Mars or the future of humanity.

In our opinion there are only 2 ways for a Mars to Stay mission to become a reality:

1- There is a fundamental shift in people's opinion and attitude towards space exploration, to the extent that there is a clear demand for a mission to Mars, enough for politicians to see it as a popular policy, and even for businesses to sponsor.

2- A high ranking politician or an extremely wealthy individual is passionate about it and wants
to see it get done. In which case, they have the influence/finances to lobby other people in
similar positions, and would see that either a government and/or private mission was put in place.

In terms of a mission such as this going ahead in current circumstances, we see that as extremely unlikely.
While there are vague plans by the Obama administration to send humans to orbit Mars in the mid 2030’s,
then on to the surface, there is certainly no real ambition or funding planned for such a task. It will only
happen if there is a set goal and guaranteed funding, similar to the scale of the Apollo missions of the 1960’s.

I'm Not Interested