As Webb Wilder says, I can’t predict the future, but I can take a hint. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about Mars, and specifically about the prospects and pitfalls of visits to Mars, colonies on Mars, and longer-term efforts to modify the climate of Mars so as to make it more hospitable to humans. In particular, I wrote last week about some environmentalists’ likely opposition to terraforming – or even visiting – Mars. No sooner did I start this enterprise than news events began to fall into place. First came the story of environmental activists’ efforts to ban lunar development by designating the Moon a World Heritage Site. Then there were concerns about humans being exposed to Martian chemicals on visits there. Next came news that water ice has been found, in “vast” quantities, frozen just below the surface of Mars. There were even reports that NASA might be getting serious about plans for a human, rather than simply a robotic, mission to Mars in the not-too distant future.
