The Martian: Possible Scenarios for a Future Human Society on Mars

Abstract

Over the last ten years, challenges associated with planning the human exploration of deep space in the next 50 years have received increasing attention. The issues to be considered are not confined to medical and technological, but also include political, social and ethical issues. Human space settlement may be regarded as the next step in human expansion, and this article discusses a broad set of challenges for the concept of creating a human settlement on Mars, which should be taken into consideration by mission planners. We briefly discuss the basic challenges and the rationale for a mission to Mars, and we focus our attention on the idea of building the first society in a New World. The article gives some examples of historical attempts to build new societies on Earth and discusses the possible social and behavioural development of a future Martian society with respect to biological and cultural evolution. It also presents an overview of psychological risks to be encountered during space travel and colonisation and, finally, emphasises the importance of a hierarchical system of values and beliefs for future space settlement by humankind. The aim of the article is to present a wide range of factors that will be encountered when humans commit to establish a space settlement at some point in the future.