Mars Is a Second-Rate Backup Plan

These days, when I’ve listened in on strangers’ conversations—all properly socially distanced and discretely of course—I’ve heard several fatigued souls talk about how they’d like to get off this planet, or wish the timeline would correct itself. It’s easy to sympathize, we’re living in a world that feels like it has considerably more risk and dysfunction than it did a mere 12 months ago.

Of course, the idea of jumping ship, or looking for a backup plan, is not new. At the rarified altitudes occupied by billionaires and so-called technological visionaries a perennially favorite discussion topic is about putting metaphorical bunkers down on our planetary sister Mars. Elon Musk is perhaps the most notable and vocal proponent of this option. Indeed, he has been extremely candid about the underlying, big-picture motivations for many of his enterprises. From SpaceX to Starlink, as well as probably Tesla and the Boring Company: It’s all in aid of raising the capital and building the technology to set humans up on Mars for the long haul.¹