Mars Is the Next Step for Humanity – We Must Take It

> "Our environment is a highly balanced system and we are the destabilising element."

Okay, so we colonize Mars. Then what? We continue to destabilize the Earth's ecoystem? And what of the billions of people on Earth - do we ship them all to Mars?

If we can build a self-sustaining environment (either in an enclosed area or through terraforming), then why can't we do the same here? Building a self-sustaining city/arcology here on Earth is 1) certainly cheaper than doing so on Mars, and 2) will help mitigate humanity's impact on the Earth's ecosystem.

> "Space exploration is also inspiring: during NASA’s Apollo programme to the Moon, the number of graduates in mathematics, engineering and the sciences in the US doubled."

Also, the US dumped massive amounts of money into the sciences post-Sputnik. Quoting from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_crisis:

> Education programs were initiated to foster a new generation of engineers and support was dramatically increased for scientific research. Congress increased the National Science Foundation (NSF) appropriation for 1959 to $134 million, almost $100 million higher than the year before. By 1968, the NSF budget stood at nearly $500 million.

BTW, all sorts of things can be inspiring. In the UK, TV shows like Time Team and Meet the Ancestors have greatly increased public interest in archaeology, and no doubt inspired some to enter the field. Going back a few decades, Julia Child inspired a lot of people to start doing French cooking. So yes, space exploration is one of many things that can and have inspired people.