that ‘new world values’ may develop among the early settlers who would apply social and political ideas that could be exported back to the home planet.

2. Terraforming is a long-term project for humans, generating scientific advances and inevitable beneficial spin-offs in technology. But the greatest benefit would be the knowledge derived from attempts to control the planet’s climate. Even if, for the first few hundred years, the project was no larger than one of the Antarctic bases, the knowledge derived from attempts at terraforming could be applied to projects to protect the Earth’s ecology.

3. Life has an intrinsic value and consequently it is morally commendable to permit life to flourish on planets were previously there has been none.

4. Massive terraforming projects might divert scientific and technological resources away from warfare and destructive  objectives, kindle enthusiasm for international cooperation, and restore humankind’s lost confidence in its ability to create.

Against terraforming

1. The arguments against terraforming other planets are based on moral objections: is it morally right to cause such drastic changes to another planet? Mars might contain as yet undiscovered forms of microscopic life that have evolved under Martian conditions, and consequently our presence will jeop-ardize these by bringing our micro-organisms which may attack and kill the Martian This objection would be stronger if there was evidence of Martian life-forms, as a major climatic change could also upset their development.
2. There is also an objection that human efforts to transform Earth have resulted in a catalogue of man-made disasters and unforeseen. How much worse would it be if we started in an environment of which we know less than we do of Earth? Something might go wrong, leaving things even worse off with regard to the planet’s ability to foster life. There might even be repercussions on Earth.
3. The fact that terraforming is a long-term project would act as a disincentive to governments with regard to investment. Moreover, scarce human talent and resources would be diverted from worthy projects on Earth, such as social and environmental problems.
   
4. If terraforming and hence colonization are successful, they would not divert resources away from warfare: on the contrary, wars would very likely be fought over the new territory; and military uses of the new colonies would simply extend the arena for socio-political problems.
   

While most of the above arguments for and against terraforming are likely to remain unresolved for some time, there is a strong case for saying that terra-forming projects should be postponed until it is certain that there are no native

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forms of life that might be harmed in the process. This problem is central to any form of exploration, whether it is the Antarctic or the planets. Hence international treaties are essential to ensure that Mars and other sites are not contaminated by terrestrial biota during exploration. In fact, this problem was recognized in the Viking surveys when the two spaceships were assembled in controlled clean rooms and then subjected to an alcohol wipe-down of external surfaces and other components, to remove biological material, and finally heated to sterilize their interiors. In the event this proved unnecessary as the intense UV radiation on Mars would have killed off any bacteria.

One thing is certain: as demographic pressure increases on Earth, and as its natural resources are used up, proposals for planetary colonization will be offered and considered. Maybe the technology which has devastated large parts of Earth will continue to exploit and devastate the planets. Or maybe that very technology will put Mars into reverse and restore it as an abode for life. The technology used to colonize Mars could one day be employed to save the inhabitants of Earth from an ecological catastrophe.

Beyond the solar system?

A Martian settlement could, because the planet’s gravitational field is weaker than Earth’s, provide a suitable launch for further  space exploration. But journeys to the stars would require craft operated on principles of physics we have not yet conceived of, including exotic assaults on time and space. Return trips to the stars would be prohibitive in one human life-span, and even with the predicted time-dilation effects of travelling near the speed of light, a traveller would return after a few years only to find out that thousands of years had passed on Earth. This could very well prove a disincentive to such travel.

To appreciate the problems, however, it is important to reconsider the vast distances and time involved in interstellar travel. With current rocket systems a return trip to Alpha Centauri would take over 200,000 years, and it would probably take much longer to find a habitable planet similar to Earth. It is obvious that stellar colonization will involve thousands of generations who will live their entire lives engaged in space travel. How would they survive and reproduce in conditions approaching zero gravity? Sexual relations in these conditions might sound like a novel activity, but there is too little known at present on the effects of near zero gravity on a human embryo. Apparently human reproductive systems encounter problems in space: altered light and dark cycles inhibit male testosterone and sex drive; and the female menstrual cycle can become erratic or cease altogether (McInnis, 1999: 42–3). Perhaps artificial insemination supported by chemical agents would resolve these problems,  but  the predicted deterioration of muscles and organs during prolonged periods of weightlessness might result in future generations who are incapable of surviving in gravitation similar to Earth’s, should they ever reach an Earth-type location. Meanwhile, on the journey, problems related to inbreeding, risks of epidemics

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