Who will own Mars

[scman]

I was wondering what will happen when we as in humans eventually get the technology to transport ourselves efficiently through space which will inevitably happen whether it be 10 or 200 years from now.There is a very high chance that there will be wars over territory,i mean how easy would it be for the US to take over Mars when it obtains the means to do so.I know that there are treaties to stop these kinds of things happening but capitalist greed for resources will allways prevail,all u need to do is look to Iraq to prove this.

[Sayonara]

Mars: Not exactly resource rich.

[scman]

Sayonara³ said in post #2 :

Mars: Not exactly resource rich.

 

Well how do u know this?Supposedly it used to be like earth so it propably has many resources that could be mined.Rovers and satellites dont show everything u know.

[Sayonara]

What sort of resources are you expecting?

 

The expense to pay-off ratio will have to be immense to make it worthwhile.

[atinymonkey]

China will get their first anyhow. They actually are designing the spacecraft and have begun the programme, whereas the US just have Bush making empty promises of an out of date fleet.

[scman]

Sayonara³ said in post #4 :

What sort of resources are you expecting?

 

The expense to pay-off ratio will have to be immense to make it worthwhile.

 

Nobody really knows,thats why we need to put men up there.

[Sayonara]

It's a little difficult to predict whether or not a nation will fight for control of something without knowing what they're fighting for.

[scman]

Sayonara³ said in post #7 :

It's a little difficult to predict whether or not a nation will fight for control of something without knowing what they're fighting for.

 

I asked a hypothetical question.Its gonna happen some day,we cant stay on this rock forever if we as humans wish to survive which of course we do,its instinctual.The planet may not even be mars(however mars is the most likely planet we will colonise),i was trying to get a feel of what the political implications might be for this kind of scenario.

[Sayonara]

I understand your question, but it's a lot more complex than you are making out.

 

It will not simply be a matter of "whoever gets there first owns the planet", and war does not necessarily follow dispute.

 

It is unlikely that any nation currently has - or will ever have - the financial capacity to colonise another planet. Any such undertaking will need to be a joint effort which brings its own implications for treaty, relations and economics.

 

Nobody goes to war on a whim. Whether or not a government will declare war to defend an interest depends mainly on three things:

1) The policies of the party in power,

2) The mood of the population,

3) The cost-gain difference.

 

The first two are almost impossible to predict further ahead than five years in most countries. The third one depends on the specifics of the interest in question, and really can't be just guessed.

[blike]

atinymonkey said in post #5 :

China will get their first anyhow. They actually are designing the spacecraft and have begun the programme, whereas the US just have Bush making empty promises of an out of date fleet.

 

Yea. I must commend the Chinese for actually setting goals and putting the petal to the metal. Hopefully it'll jumpstart the US space program. They need to get on the ball and stop talking about fixing this and fixing that, and just build. Only seven years after JFK made his famous speech about landing on the moon, we stepped foot on the moon. NASA employs some of the smartest engineers in the world, I'm sure if they had the funding they needed they could come up with some great ideas.

[iglak]

well, whoever has the money to colonize the planet would do so. then when another country has enough money, they will colonize a different part of the planet. planets are very big, no one country is going to own it, especially considering there is no water on the surface. eventually, the cities on mars will form their own countries... probably.