WHAT'S NEXT?

MARS COLONIES WEIGHT-LOSS PILLS LAB-GROWN BABIES | CLIMATE FIXES CANCER BREAKTHROUGHS AGELESS BRAINS

- DR KELLY AND ZACH WEINERSMITH

IS LIVING ON MARS A BILLIONAIRE'S FANTASY?

A base on the Red Planet might be filled with some annoying housemates, but that doesn't mean we can't aspire to setting up a permanent settlement there

On 18 November 2023, SpaceX launched one of the largest rockets ever constructed. Starship marks a step change for humanity's relationship with space - a reusable rocket so powerful that it could carry the mass of today's painstakingly built International Space Station in just two to three launches, and likely quite a bit cheaper. Dreams from the days of the Apollo programme, long squashed by the high cost of space access, are returning and with them, arguments about the value of space to our species.

As with many experimental rockets, Starship failed to achieve all of its goals. Its first rocket stage exploded, and the second needed to self-destruct. Reactions are illustrative of the divide between space analysts and much of the media (and the public). To many, it was proof of failure. Those in the space-geek community generally viewed it as a success. Starship, a rocket the size of a skyscraper, soared 150km (over 90 miles) at high speed, gathering a trove of valuable data before malfunctioning. Not failure progress with a bang.

THEATRE OF HOPE

Space settlement researchers occasionally find themselves arguing about the value of space. For the most gung-ho space advocates, it's a theatre of all hope. It's a way to get rich from asteroid resources, to save the environment by offloading people and industry from an overburdened Earth, and a chance to create a second home for humanity that could survive the death of our planet. Others question why we spend so much on space when we have so many problems on Earth. Some wonder darkly if space billionaires are cultivating a Martian redoubt as a kind of off-world bunker, in case our planet is ruined by climate change or war.