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Hannah Horrocks
English 1010 CE
Proposal Paper Final
April 16, 2016

Plan(et) B: Exploring Mars

Humans have inhabited earth for millions of years. Over the years we have adapted to

make life easier. For example, in place of riding horses we invented motorized vehicles to travel.

While civilizations improve, consequences follow, such as air pollution and over population.

Humans cannot endure the damage forever; if we continue polluting and damaging the earth

there will be and end of humankind. Whether you believe it is caused by humans or not we need

a backup plan; a place to go when the world diminishes.

Planet earth, as we know it, is weakening. Whether you call it global climate change or

global warming, temperatures are changing all over the world. Last year was the hottest recorded

summer in Utah. Endangered species, such as polar bears, are drowning while the polar ice caps

are melting. The endangered species list grows day by day; it is even said that elephants will not

exist in 10 years if we continue treating Earth like this. We also run into a problem with

population. We will need a place to go when earth cannot contain our numbers anymore. Robert

Engelman, from Population Action International quotes:

Trends such as the loss of half of the planets forests, the depletion of most of its

major fisheries, and the alteration of its atmosphere and climate are closely related

to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric

times to over six billion today (Engelman).

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According to Space and Astronomy News, we have less than a billion years before

temperatures will be too high for life on earth to be habitable (Cain). As humans continue to

damage other species, they continue to wreak havoc on the food chain. We are taught in schools,

there is a domino effect to the circle of life when one piece of the chain is eliminated. What if I

told you humans can still survive through all of this destruction? Over time with improved

research we could migrate to a new planet known as Mars. The journey to Mars is time

consuming; we are already on a time limit with Earths lifespan, so we need to begin our journey

now. Humans are ignorant enough to ruin their own home, but intelligent enough to come up

with an intellectual plan B; or as other people are calling it, Plan(et) B.

Opinions about Earths depletion are 50/50. Few people have spoken out and tried to get

people to realize the problem, but either people do not care or do not believe it is an issue. We

cannot fix earth if people do not see the problem. There are many people who do not believe

Earth is in trouble. Mona Charen quoted in an article she wrote called Why People Dont Buy

Global Warming:

There has been a noticeable drop in the number of Americans who believe that

global warming is a man-made phenomenon. Though Americans have been

harangued about global warming for more than a decade, only 35 percent told a

recent Pew survey that global warming is a serious problem (Charen).

Scientists have discovered that Marss formation and evolution are extremely comparable

to Earth. Because of this evidence, NASA is working on a mission to send humans to Mars in the

2030s; they have been working hard to develop ways for astronauts to not only work on, but live

on Mars (NASA). Robert Zubrin, a space engineer, firmly believes we could colonize on Mars;

now we have more scientific backup on how this is possible. In an article written by space
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explorer, Nola Redd, she explained how water is key for Earths existence, and Mars has

evidence of small puddles of water in the early morning (Redd).

There are several people who may argue that running away to Mars is not plausible.

Others may say by going to mars to create civilization, we are giving up. However, this is not the

case; it is simply having a backup plan ready for when the time comes. People may complain,

and say the journey to Mars will be too expensive. The United States funds NASA anyway; the

research might as well be spent on saving mankind. It is true, people may not want to leave

Earth, so when we are ready to send people to Mars other than astronauts, they will be

volunteers.

This Mars Mission will take a long time to accomplish. There are detailed steps to

achieve the goal of a habitable environment on Mars. The first step has already been started;

NASA is working on a plan to send humans to live on Mars in 2030. These astronauts will then

research Mars over a duration of at least three years. There is no way the astronauts could bring

enough food and water to survive the entire time, they will have to figure out how to live off the

land; experimenting with growing food and plants to produce oxygen. Robert Zubrin has a

detailed plan for life on Mars in his book Mars Direct, the astronauts would recycle oxygen

and water more explorers will travel to mars building greenhouses to grow food, (Zubrin).

Once the astronauts are successful with plants, NASA will send small bugs to Mars. With

the supervision of the astronauts, they will take notes and figure out what needs to happen if

some bugs fail to survive. Of course, when we have a thriving bug colony on Mars, we will

begin sending small animals like rats and/or bunnies. It is highly unlikely for the animals

survival to fail since we will have had worked through the trial and error from previous
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experiments with the plants and bugs. Once NASA feels confident with all the work the

astronauts have accomplished, they will begin taking volunteers to Mars.

The process of moving Earth to Mars is a long process, which is why I am urging for

NASA to start now. We are on a specific timeline before it will be too late for mankind to

survive on earth anymore. Whether humans moving to Mars is because Earth is depleting or not,

it will be a giant stepping stone for human kind. The great migration to Mars could open several

new doors for humans as well. Human beings living on Mars would bring us that much closer to

finding extra-terrestrial life; technology would only improve from there.

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Works Cited

Cain, Fraser. "How Long Will Life Survive on Earth." Universe Today. N.p., 30 Sept. 2013.

Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Charen, Mona. "Here's Why People Dont Buy Global Warming." CBSNews.com. CBS News,

n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.

Daines, Gary. "NASA's Journey to Mars." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

N/A. "Is Population Growth Creating Serious Environmental Issues?" About.com News & Issues.

About News, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Zubrin, Robert. "Chapter 5 Mars in the Future." Mars in the Future. Science Clarified, n.d. Web.

17 Mar. 2016.