Colonizing Mars

Since Debate is over in Kansas I decided to use my cards. Most are updated and I hope you enjoy. Inherancy: it will take 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. Spending ----Average Joe is rating econ as poor The Economic Collapse 11 (Uh Oh: 90 Percent of Americans Rate Economic Conditions in the U.S. As "Poor", http://sgtreport.com..., accessed Oct. 26, 2011, AL) Uh oh – are we rapidly reaching another major economic tipping point? According to a new CNN/ORC International Poll, 90 percent of the American people believe that economic conditions in the United States are "poor". This represents a significant increase from when the same question was asked in June. Back then, 81 percent of the American people considered economic conditions to be "poor". To put this in perspective, only 11 percent of Americans rated economic conditions in the U.S. as "poor" back in January of 1999. The Federal Reserve and the Obama administration keep telling us that we are in the middle of an "economic recovery", but obviously what average Americans are experiencing on the street is a different story. Millions of families have been absolutely devastated by mass layoffs, heartless foreclosures or bad debts. All of the recent polls show that satisfaction with government is at an all-time low and anger at Wall Street and the financial community is rising to dangerous levels. In the United States today, the economy is the most important issue for most Americans. When you have 9 out of 10 Americans rating economic conditions as "poor", that is a very troubling sign ----Cost to high even for an individual to go into space. Golbus 11 (AL Golbus, NASA Official, http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov..., April 29, 2011 accessed Oct. 24, 2011, AL) Space colonization is extraordinarily expensive because launch vehicles are difficult to manufacture and operate. For example, the current (2004) cost to put an individual into orbit for a short time is about $20 million. To enable large scale space tourism by the middle class, this cost must be reduced to about $1,000-$10,000, a factor of 3 to 4 orders of magnitude. Space tourism has launch requirements similar to space settlement suggesting that a radical improvement in manufacturing technology may be necessary to enable space colonization. Note that current launch costs vary from $2,000-$14,000 per pound for operational vehicles Solvency ----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 shown that 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, world not over populated 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.)