Humans 2 Mars

The second annual Humans 2 Mars Summit will take place this week at George Washington University in Washington, D. C.  The conference will bring togeher experts from NASA, academia, and the private business sector to focus on necessary advances that will allow humans to get to and survive on Mars sooner rather than later.

While such meetings are important, perhaps more effort should be expended putting a manned Mars program in the context of a broader policy push to develop science and technology and to expand the human economy.  Apollo showed that exploration for exploration's sake is not politically sustainable.  The goal should not simply be to put people on Mars.  The goal should be to establish a permanent human presence on Mars, and that goal can only be achieved any time soon if the Mars program is but one aspect of an overall drive to strengthen the human economy by aggressively pursuing advances in science and technology.