The SEI would like to send humans to Mars because of what can be more easily learned about the planet and its potential to host earth life forms. Carl Sagan is a Pulitzer Prize winning astronomer as well an advocate for human exploration on Mars.(TWAC p.396) Sagan justifies the need for humans to go to Mars because “The program is very likely to help clarify our understanding of the environment of own planet, as robotic missions have already done; the history of our civilization shows that unfettered pursuit of basic knowledge is the way the most significant practical advances have come about.”

Using the Moon as a place to host future colonies is a current idea by scientists. Alan Binder is a “planetary scientist turned entrepreneur.” (TWAC. P.437) Binder is a driving force for future moon mapping missions. Binder believes that we need to “…start working on sending landers – extremely simple landers, using existing hardware [and then] the next step is leaving things on the moon – equipment, robots, dwellings- and little by little build up lunar bases.” ( TWAC, p.437) Doing this allows humans to comprehend the Moon’s atmosphere and eventually understand how the resources there can be utilized. Binder has a vision of the moon as an industrial park “Eventually [he] wants to start factories on the moon, churning out hydrogen or basalt bricks.” (TWAC, p.437) After this type of progress can occur it is assumed by Binder that slowly humans will develop potential to survive by themselves on the Moon. Neil de Grasse Tyson who is an astronomer and d

Some topics in this essay:
McKay NASA, Pulitzer Prize, P437 Binder, Soviet Union, Clemson University, Hayden Planetarium, President Bush, Space Age, Science Exploration, Initiative SEI, space exploration, twac p437, life mars, space exploration fiction, robotic missions, humans mars, twac p412, space age, space technology, exploration fiction, diminishing resources,