Mars & Human Exploration: A Rebuttal of Those Who Fear the Unknown

In a special issue, the last of 2019, the web magazine Quillette deals with the exploration and settlement of Mars. The issue includes contributions from Michael Shermer, Cathy Young, and Michael Solana, all of whom address the question of future governance on the Red Planet. The topic might seem to some to be far-fetched, but it nevertheless provides these able conservative and libertarian writers ample scope to speculate on the always relevant subject of what might be the best principles on which to organize a government anywhere.

So far so good. However, the issue also includes an article — “One Small Step for Man . . . One Giant Leap toward the Annihilation of All Mankind,” by forensic psychologist Armondo Simon — that, written in earnest, is hands down the most absurd piece ever penned about the purported danger of back contamination from Mars.

About the Author

Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and the author of twelve books, most recently The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet.

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In a special issue, the last of 2019, the web magazine Quillette deals with the exploration and settlement of Mars. The issue includes contributions from Michael Shermer, Cathy Young, and Michael Solana, all of whom address the question of future governance on the Red Planet. The topic might seem to some to be far-fetched, but it nevertheless provides these able conservative and libertarian writers ample scope to speculate on the always relevant subject of what might be the best principles on which to organize a government anywhere.

So far so good. However, the issue also includes an article — “One Small Step for Man . . . One Giant Leap toward the Annihilation of All Mankind,” by forensic psychologist Armondo Simon — that, written in earnest, is hands down the most absurd piece ever penned about the purported danger of back contamination from Mars.