We should go to Mars

I'll be posting policy debate cards.----50 Years to long to colonize Golbus 11 (AL Golbus, NASA Official, http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov..., April 29, 2011 accessed Oct. 24, 2011, AL) How long did it take to build New York? California? France? Even given ample funds the first settlement will take decades to construct. No one is building a space settlement today, and there are no immediate prospects for large amounts of money, so the first settlement will be awhile. If Burt Rutan's prediction of affordable orbital tourism in 25 years is correct, however, it's reasonable to expect the first orbital colony to be built within about 50 years. ----Mars can’t sustain life, Biosphere Project 2 Proves Golbus 11 (AL Golbus, NASA Official, http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov..., April 29, 2011 accessed Oct. 24, 2011, AL) People need air, water, food and reasonable temperatures to survive. On Earth a large complex biosphere provides these. In space settlements, a relatively small, closed system must recycle all the nutrients without "crashing." The Biosphere II project in Arizona has shownthat a complex, small, enclosed, man-made biosphere can support eight people for at least a year, although there were many problems. A year or so into the two year mission oxygen had to be replenished, which strongly suggests that they achieved atmospheric closure. For the first try, one major oxygen replenishment and perhaps a little stored food isn't too bad. Although Biosphere II has been correctly criticized on scientific grounds, it was a remarkable engineering achievement and provides some confidence that self sustaining biospheres can be built for space settlements. ----Radiation Protection needed for life Golbus 11 (AL Golbus, NASA Official, http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov..., April 29, 2011 accessed Oct. 24, 2011, AL) Radiation protection. Cosmic rays and solar flares create a lethal radiation environment in space. To protect life, settlements must be surrounded by sufficient mass to absorb most incoming radiation. This can be achieved with left over from processing lunar soil and asteroids into oxygen, metals, and other useful materials. ----Radiation causes health defects. NASA08 (http://radbelts.gsfc.nasa.gov... accessed on Oct. 10, 2011, About Space Radiation, AL) Ionizing radiation travels through living tissues, depositing energy that causes structural damage to DNA and alters many cellular processes. Current research sponsored by NASA seeks an understanding of DNA structural and functional changes caused by radiation, basic metabolic controls known to be modulated by radiation; genomic instability; changes to tissue structure; and “bystander” or non-targeted effects. NASA has identified the following health concerns as its highest research priorities. Risk of Radiation Carcinogenesis from Space Radiation – increased risk of cancers. Risk of Acute or Late Central Nervous System Effects from Space Radiation – changes in motor function and behavior or neurological disorders. Risk of Degenerative Tissue or Other Health Effects from Space Radiation – other degenerative tissue defects such as cataracts, circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases. Acute Radiation Risks from Space Radiation – prodromal risks, significant skin injury, or death from a major solar event or combination solar/galactic cosmic ray event that jeopardizes crew and mission survival. ----World population can fit in Texas Alison 11 (Wick Alison, staff writer for the Front Burner (Dallas newspaper), written Jan. 13, 2011, http://frontburner.dmagazine.com..., accessed Dec. 1, 2011, AL) Robert Kunzig of National Geographic is on Krys Boyd’s Think right now discussing his article, “Population Seven Billion.” He said he did the calculations, and the entire world could fit in Texas if each person were alloted the same average square feet of living space as in New York City. I lived in New York City, and the sqaure footage wasn’t that bad. Give up a private screening room and a wine cellar and a couple of extra bedrooms — and most of your kitchen space — and you’d be surprised. I’m all for it. Imagine all the room left over for farming, flyfishing, and horseback riding. When it comes to picking neighborhoods, I’d want to move to wherever the Italians settle. (The North Koreans can have Odessa.) ---Microgravity causes bone loss. Odom 05 (Jason Odom, web designer and writer for the NASA website, Weak in the Knees - The Quest for a Cure, http://weboflife.nasa.gov..., accessed online Oct. 10, 2011, AL) Space biomedical researchers have found that exposure to the microgravity environment of space causes men and women of all ages to lose up to 1% of their bone mass per month due to disuse atrophy, a condition similar to osteoporosis.It is not yet clear whether losses in bone mass will continue as long as a person remains in the microgravity environment or level off in time.