According to NASA chief administrator Charles Bolden, a manned mission to Mars is necessary for the survival of the human race.
“If this species is to survive indefinitely we need to become a multi-planet species. We need to go to Mars, and Mars is a stepping stone to other solar systems,” Bolden said at the Humans 2 Mars summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Woah, so if we don’t get to the red planet, we’re screwed?
“We, today, are Earth-reliant,” Bolden said. “We’re dependent on being on this planet. We are not a multi-planet species yet … Only multi-planet species survive for long periods of time.”