Next, I turned my attention to probably the greatest source I stumbled upon during my relatively light research for this paper.  I discovered an article entitled, “Revised Scenario for Human Missions to Mars” written by Jean Marc Salotti.  As mentioned in this paper, Mars Direct advocates the idea of sending the recovery vehicle to Mars first, and then everything else.  Salotti addresses this notion in depth, and also provides what he (and his team) think is a better scenario.  The specifics are rather boring and not easily summarized here, but suffice it to say that his team believes they have a better plan, which also minimizes risks by providing redundancies every step of the way (286).  What was so moving about this paper is that it was written with a tone that doesn’t hide that he fully expects a successful manned journey to Mars—and soon.

The journey nearing an end, I found an article which seemed a fitting punctuation mark with which to conclude the paper, “Can Humans Live on Mars?” by Ken Kremer.  The short answer is “Yes”.  Kremer focuses his question and subsequent answer specifically on radiation levels.  For the lay reader, the article reveals that astronauts today already operate within preset radiation exposure limits (Kremer).   He goes on to conclude that all the data argues that Mars’ thin atmosphere actually reduces the radiation exposure an astronaut would encounter when compared to current trips to the International Space Station (Kremer).  This is encouraging news.  There are, of course, still many uncertainties, but the overall point is that settling Planet Mars, as Mars One intends on doing, seems to be more than a joke.  While the details are being fine-tuned, it is clear that prominent members of the larger space exploration community argue that humanity possesses the ability to fly to and land on Mars.  Furthermore it seems that humans should be able to live for at least a short time without ill effect.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  This goal to inhabit Mars in 2023 is achievable and realistic.  More than the research this paper reviews, I know this to be true because I am a member of the human race.  I know this to be true because I possess the innately human quality intuition.  I know this to be true because when backed by the history of human experience and achievement, intuition proves itself accurate.  The human race is a super-organism that does not give-up.  When we direct our attention towards manifesting an idea, the rest is history.

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Kremer, Ken. “Can Humans Live on Mars?” Universe Today RSS. N.p., 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. <http://www.universetoday.com/98509/can-humans-live-on-mars/&gt;.

Salotti, Jean Marc. “Revised Scenario For Human Missions To Mars.” Acta Astronautica 81.1 (2012): 273-287. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.