Humans on Mars: possible, or pipe dream? A live debate.

On February 18, the American rover Perseverance landed on Mars. But getting humans there will be a different matter altogether. Keystone

Is human exploration of Mars worth the cost and the risk? Will we ever see the first man or woman on the surface of the Red Planet?

Following the launch of recent Mars missions with Swiss and international involvement, including the landing of the Perseverance rover, we put those questions to Sylvia Ekström of the University of Geneva and Pierre Brisson of the Swiss Mars Society in a live online discussion. You can see the highlights in the video below.

For Ekström and her research partner Javier G. Nombela, the case is clear. At the end of last year, they published the paper We won’t live on Mars, or anywhere else, a paving stone in the form of a list of obstacles to a manned mission to Mars. Ekström also lays out her main arguments on the question of humans on Mars here:

Yet for the past 50 years, many very capable people have done more than dream about getting to the Red Planet. Could they all be wrong? We asked Pierre Brisson, president of the Mars Society Switzerland, to respond to Ekström and Nombela’s arguments:  

What do you think? And what questions do you have for our experts about Mars exploration ahead of the April 15 debate? Join the discussion here, and we’ll raise your questions during the event. (There will also be time for you to ask more questions during the debate).