August 02, 2024

This Week in Space 122: No City on Mars?

1 hour

It's been said that Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids, and that's certainly the assertion of the popular 2023 book, "A City on Mars" by Kelly and Zack Weinersmith. In fact, they question the future of settling humans off Earth in its entirety. Certainly, it will be challenging, but is it impossible? Are there reasons we should not go? We gathered together two of our favorite experts on the topic, Dale Skran, the COO and SVP of the National Space Society, and Mr. YouTube himself, Isaac Arthur—who has produced maybe 100 hours or more of well-regarded videos on the subject—to discuss the book and our prospects for rational, realistic space settlement plans. Join us!

"A City on Mars" takes a skeptical and humorous look at space settlement, questioning our readiness for having children in space, building space farms, and creating independent space nations.

Dale Skran wrote a comprehensive 40,000-word review of the book, acknowledging its depth while disagreeing with many of its conclusions. He believes the book represents the current stage of opposition to the increasingly realistic prospect of space settlement.

The hosts discuss the potential benefits and resources available in space, with Dale and Isaac emphasizing the vast opportunities and the need for reasonable regulation to facilitate space development.

The challenges of human reproduction in space are examined, with the hosts agreeing on the importance of further research and the need for artificial gravity experiments on space stations.

The potential for conflict and war in space is explored, with Dale arguing that space settlements will likely be more resilient and less vulnerable than Earth-based cities due to their designed defenses against natural and artificial threats.

The hosts critique the book's pessimistic view of space settlement and its suggestion to wait centuries until humanity has solved all its problems before venturing into space. They argue that space development and solving Earth's issues can and should happen concurrently.

Dale Skran highlights an interesting idea from the book: the possibility of a dual life cycle for settlers, with reproduction occurring in 1G spin gravity settlements while adults spend much of their time working in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars.

Get "A City on Mars": https://amzn.to/3LWMhY1

Host: Rod Pyle

Co-Host: Isaac Arthur

Guest: Dale Skran

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