Should humans consider going to Mars

I would now like to take this time to refute the arguments presented by my opponent. Because it is scientifically proven that, due to global warming, pollution in the air and climate change that humans are in big trouble. Ice glaciers are melting, the ozone layer is being ripped apart, and climate is rapidly changing. So, instead of reducing green house gas emissions, lowering the pollution from cars, houses, and factories, we should instead tell everyone on the planet to pack their bags and they’ll be shipped to Mars. This is ridiculous, instead of going to another planet why don’t we try to fix the Earth? We still can, it isn’t as if the Earth will shatter in the next decade. Furthermore, my opponent has provided no source for the science that has proven that we as a race are doomed. I say got to Mars because water has been found on Mars, which is all living things need. This is ridiculous and I will elaborate on this in my first contention. Just because Mars has water doesn’t mean we can live on Mars. And its proven that an actual human being can live on Mars. Once again, my opponent has provided no source AND I will address the fact that we cannot live on Mars later on. Now I will present my case for why we should not even entertain the idea of going to Mars. C1: DISTANCE AND COST The average distance between Mars and Earth is 225 million kilometres. [1] The distance between the Moon and Earth is 384 000 kilometres. [Google “distance to moon”, Google shows an answer]. It took Neil Armstrong 3 days, 3 hours, and 49 minutes to get to the moon, or roughly 75 hours. [2] So, using this math we can assume that it will take roughly 43 945 hours, or 1831 days, roughly 5 years to travel to Mars. The cost of NASA’s program and lunar landings cost the US about 100 billion dollars [3]. To go to Mars, the cost would be exponential, and that would just be to get a landing! The spacecraft to the Moon had room for three astronauts, we would need to expand the spacecraft, conduct tests, build landing craft, send astronauts to test the flight, gather information, AND THEN we can start sending the 7 billion people on this planet to Mars. What will the cost be? More money than every imaginable. How long will it take? It is roughly 10 years back and forth, if each spacecraft could carry 1000 people and 1000 spacecraft were flying nonstop it would take 700 000 years to get everyone off the planet. The bar is clearly set too high, the distance and cost alone stops us from going to Mars. C2: MARS IS UNINHABITABLE Earth was a stroke of good luck; it had the perfect atmosphere, water, and was just right for human life. Is Mars the exact same as the Earth? - Mars has a 687 day year, this alone would mess up the calendar, crops, etc. - Mars is barely half of the Earth’s size - Mars ONCE had water on it, not in large flowing amounts anymore - Mar’s moon, Phobos is estimated to crash into Mars. A meteor one mile wide striking the Earth has the power of 1 million megatons. To put this in perspective, a meteor the size of a house striking Earth is equivalent to dropping a nuclear bomb equivalent to the bomb falling on Hiroshima. [5] Phobos has a diameter of 13.8 miles, and Mars is smaller than the Earth. Phobos striking Mars will certainly wipe out all life on Mars and possibly destroy the planet. Humans do not want to be there when that happens - Mars goes to extreme temperatures, at night the temperature can go to -191 degrees Fahrenheit. This is inhospitable for humans [7] - The atmosphere on Mars is extremely thin and is too small to recycle carbonate back into carbon dioxide which is necessary for life. These facts alone show us that Mars cannot support human life, it just isn’t right for our needs, it is impossible for us to live on Mars. C3: MARS HAS NO INFRASTRUCTURE If we were to go to Mars, first we would need workers to land on Mars and find a way to build a stable shelter for humans. We would need farm areas, buildings, roads, factories, all of these will need to be rebuilt on Mars. Clearly, this will cost trillions and take thousands of years, otherwise when humans get their we will essentially be going back to the stone age, no houses, no buildings, no running water as there is no surface water readily accessible, clearly it is easier to fix Earth’s problems than devolve back into cavemen. Clearly, humans entertaining the idea of going to Mars is wrong and a waste of intellect. Mars in inhospitable, barren, and too far away for humans to possible even get there within a reasonable amount of time. Clearly, voters should VOTE CON. . http://www.space.com... . http://moonphases.info... . http://www.asi.org... . http://www.planetfacts.net... . http://science.howstuffworks.com... . http://en.wikipedia.org...(moon) . http://quest.nasa.gov...