Resolved: The US federal government should colonize Mars.

Why The United States should colonize mars Part 1 Why mars should be colonized Reason 1- Humans should go all places that they are reasonably capable of going. Man is capable of building machines that allow transportation to take place at faster and faster rates that bring us to new and exciting adventures. These machines include various types of automobiles, airplanes, boats, trains, and now Space Ships. Transportation has, up until this point, been the key limiting factor from traveling to and in essence colonizing our sister planet Mars. Now that transportation is no longer an issue going to Mars is something that Humans are reasonably capable of doing. The international space station (ISS) has been a key factor in proving the human reasonably have the capacity to survive in space for the duration of a journey as far as mars. Although most crews stay on the ISS for 6 months, astronauts have been in space for over 1 year during a single journey.[1] The journey to Mars is estimated to be 6-8 months along the Hohmann Transfer Orbit [2] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org... [2]http://www.mars-one.com... Reason 2- Earth is becoming overcrowded [3]. Why else would anyone want to move away from their home except to have more space to themselves? Both China and India are known for their population control measures that have been created because of overcrowding[4]. The world currently has over 7 billion people on the planet and the number is growing every day. As Earthlings who celebrate the production of life, we need to find a place that will support the growing population; Mars has the space to do that. Mars has 55.91 million sq miles of potentially colonizable living space that is within our ability to use and we should use as much of it as we can. [3] http://www.sixpak.org... [4] http://acaneretuedutr.weebly.com... Reason 3- Resources Deuterium is a stable hydrogen isotope that is five times more abundant on Mars than it is earth. With the proper equipment, one milliliter can produce as much energy as 20 tons of coal. This could very well be the solution to the world energy crisis. Any suggested imbalance of cost associated with colonizing mars would be quickly debunked with the trade value of this substance alone; however there are many other precious minerals in abundance on Mars including gold, silver, and platinum. There may even be many other elements that will be discovered when Mars has been colonized. About Deuterium as a fuel… http://www.sciencedaily.com... Reason 4- Further colonization Mars is not the end all of space exploration, it is simply a stepping stone to further exploration and colonization of planets and moons that are further away from Planet Earth such as Jupiter’s Europa. Many discoveries for the necessary tools to colonize a new planet will be made in the process of colonizing a new planet. Part 2 Why the United States Government should be involved. Reason 1- The United States is the Leader in Space exploration The U.S. boasts the first person to walk on the moon(Neil Armstrong), the farthest a shuttle has ever been from earth (Apollo 13), the first Chimpanzee to go into space, the first flyby and closest approach of nearly every planet. Most importantly, the United States is the Leader in Mars exploration. The U.S. touts the first soil samples from the surface of Mars and the most successful rover landings with the most information gathered from the red planet [5]. [5] http://www.space.com... Reason 2- The United States is the leader of the UN Security Council As the leader of the U.N. Security Council it seems natural that the U.S. will take on the role as leader of interplanetary migration from countries all around the Earth. Colonizing Mars certainly does seem to be shaping up to a worldwide endeavor with already 200,000 applicants for the proposed 2025 Mars One mission reduced now to 1,058 [6].It still seems a little high to me, but who knows how many people will make the final cut. [6] http://www.latimes.com...