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The ability to leave is another question as well... I'm sure it's possible but the money involve would be interesting. Not to mention no one would even be interested in letting the young adult to leave in the first place. :/

(This is Gaius, I forgot I was on my mule!)

I'm sure they'd the right to live wherever they want once they are adults. But Coda brings up a couple of good points - it would probably be more difficult to move to Earth from Mars than to move between most places on Earth. I do see the ethical concern you're bringing up, but I also see Coda's other point, which is that no matter where or how you're brought up as a child, you will always get different opportunities than other children, sometimes more opportunities and sometimes less, but that difference is always there even if we take Mars out of the picture. So I still don't know if raising a child on Mars is any worse than raising a child anywhere on Earth.

Also, while I can't speak for other countries, I highly doubt the U.S. would prevent any adult living in an American Mars colony from returning to Earth if a return trip was feasible. Though it might take a while to arrange, depending on how often trips between the two planets are being made at the time.

My girlfriend said a little while ago, "Hey, let's watch this space movie trailer!"

And then all of a sudden, this question seems 100% less off the wall. :P

Okay other questions:

If we all get into a position where we no longer send Mars supplies (war, we all die from global warming or whatever) and Mars couldn't become life sustaining, what would they do?

Sounds rather like they'd eventually die.

Or grow potatoes in the hab. Hard to say, really.

My mind is asking all these questions abut these scenarios and I don't know why. xD

Well, if you could come up with a compelling answer, you could write a book!

That's how that "Martian" book & movie got made. :P

I was about to say, Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles is about us going to Mars, followed by nuclear war.

...I actually was talking about this stuff to an aerospace engineer a few years back, and discussed problems with making planets (not Earth-sized and not in the "goldilocks" zone) habitable. Things like weaker gravitational and magnetic forces resulting in a much weaker atmosphere, and all. If I remember, it was thought to build under the planet's surface. With the plans for 3D printed structures in space, it could work. Would need to make it compartmentalized and create a sustainable environment inside the building (plants and all?)

I suspect it would be more healthy for people to live in a large spinning space station than it would be to live on the surface of Mars (or Luna, or Europa, or whatever else). Since we can control gravity and radiation shielding much better in orbital structures than on a planet's surface.


Of course, building something like that would be quite the undertaking.

I don't think I am going to be alive when Mars gets colonized. O.O

I wouldn't mind retiring on Mars in a few decades. :P

i'd def visit ouo

Which would be more costly: construct a fully liveable space station, or turn Mars into one? I don't know to be honest.

Turning Mars into one, definitely. There's always the gravity concern.

Atmosphere is practically non existent too. Of course, you can get around that with subterranean settlements. That would also protect from radiation

Mars has enough gravity to eventually hold an oxygenous atmosphere, though. And it would also provide more geothermal heat, and it'd be more resilient against asteroids. So while a space station would be cheaper -- even a giant space station -- Mars would be the superior option in the long run.

True. In the very long run. It would take quite a long time to terraform Mars. The primary problem with Mars, really, is the lack of magnetosphere I think. Problems with solar wind, UV rays, all that fun stuff.

Of course, if we're to the point we could terraform Mars, that's likely less of an issue.