Extraterrestrial Living Might Not Be So Appealing, Says ESA Chief – Sputnik International

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14:20 01.06.2017(updated 16:07 01.06.2017) Get short URL

The possibility ofunfettered migration tothe Red Planet is not only far outof the reach ofmankind's current technological sophistication, butit would be a grim and vacuous existence even if we managed topitch our tents there, according toDr. Johann-Dietrich Worner, the director-general ofthe ESA.

Dr. Worner has urged people toturn away fromHollywood-induced fantasies such asthe box office hit The Martian, starring Matt Damon ofwhat it would be liketo live onthe desolate planet and recognize that, infact, colonizing Mars would be a far harsher reality.

"Colonization is the wrong word," Dr. Worner told the British Times newspaper ata UK Space conference inthe city ofManchester.

"Would you liketo stay ina place where half ofthe month it's dark and half ofthe month there's sun? That is the Moon. No. To stay fortwo weeks indarkness, that's not a nice life."

"Mars is the same. If you go toMars the light situation is a bit better, butyou cannot go outsidefor a small walk. Always you have tobe sheltered and covered, butyou cannot even bring your dog tothe next tree. The Martian was nice, butMars is not nice," intoned Dr. Worner.

He said that while visiting Mars might be an opinion onthe table, aswith the Moon, living there is another matter all together.

"Humans will fly toMars, forsure. But colonization that always sounds tome asthough we should leave the Earth. And I hope that we will not leave the Earth inthe next thee billion years, butthat humans will find a way tosecure life onEarth," he warned.

AFP 2017/ NASA

This NASA handout image, released on June 13, 2008 shows the Robotic Arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander with a sample of martian soil as it prepares to move to the spacecraft's microscope station.

He also battered away the esteemed scientists Stephen Hawking's comments that life onEarth is only sustainable forthe next 100 years and that we must find another habitable planet bysaying:

"You will hardly find a better place."

The business magnate Elon Musk has proposed landing a colony onMars forunder US$200,000 per passenger, butit seems people likeDr. Worner are more concerned aboutwhat may come afterhumanity arrives.

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Extraterrestrial Living Might Not Be So Appealing, Says ESA Chief - Sputnik International