Do We Want to Colonise Mars? Then We Must Accept the Loss of Lives

The idea of space tourism and the colonisation of other planets has fascinated humanity for decades. With private companies paving the way for commercial space travel and ambitious missions like Artemis aiming to return to the Moon, the dream of an interplanetary civilisation seems closer than ever. But there is an uncomfortable truth that no one wants to say out loud: if we truly want to colonise space, we must be prepared to accept the loss of human lives.

Mars One: The Failure of an Illusion, but a Sign of Change

In 2012, the "Mars One" project made headlines with the promise of sending the first settlers to Mars on a one-way mission. It was a revolutionary idea: selecting volunteers from around the world, training them, and launching them towards the Red Planet to build the first extraterrestrial human colony. Among the candidates were ordinary people, with no prior space experience, willing to leave everything behind for a journey with no return. One of the selected individuals, for example, was a Dutch physiotherapist who dreamed of becoming the first mother on Mars. However, the dream turned out to be an illusion. Financial problems, scientific scepticism, and a lack of adequate technology led to the inevitable failure of Mars One.

But the real value of Mars One was that it sparked the collective imagination. It proved that an increasing number of people are willing to risk everything to explore space. It was not the project that failed, but the timing: humanity was not yet ready. But we are getting closer.

From Earth to Space: The Cost of Exploration

Human history is written in the blood of explorers. Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and the crews of the first transoceanic ships all faced the unknown, knowing they might never return. Magellan himself did not complete the journey that marked the first circumnavigation of the globe: he died in the Philippines, leaving his men to complete the mission. Yet, his sacrifice opened new trade routes and marked a turning point in global exploration. Thinking that space exploration could be different means failing to learn from history. Going to Mars is not a tourist trip. It is a frontier mission, and like all frontiers, it requires sacrifice.

Modern public opinion is accustomed to a world where every risk must be minimised, every accident must have someone to blame, and every loss must be avoided at all costs. But this mindset is incompatible with the conquest of space. We cannot expect to become a multi-planetary species without accepting errors, failures, and, unfortunately, casualties.

The Courage to Dare and the Vision of an Interplanetary Future

If we truly want to see humanity on Mars, we must change our mindset. We must accept that the unknown brings with it unavoidable risks. This does not mean recklessly sending people into danger, but rather being honest: no one can guarantee the success of every mission.

NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, iSaisei Corporation, Vast Space, and other organisations working to push humanity beyond Earth’s orbit must be free to take risks without the fear of being condemned every time something goes wrong. The fear of failure must not become the brake on our expansion into space.

We must also recognise that this "dirty work" will most likely be carried out by private companies. Government space agencies, despite their technological capabilities and experience, are often limited by political decisions and must adopt a conservative mindset to avoid losing public support. In contrast, private companies have the freedom to be more daring, to innovate faster, and to take risks with an entrepreneurial perspective, without being hindered by bureaucracy and political constraints.

Elon Musk, with SpaceX, has demonstrated how a private individual can challenge the impossible: from reusable rockets to the Starship project, aimed at transporting humans to Mars. These are not distant dreams but a future in the making. If we want an interplanetary civilisation, we must think like pioneers, not spectators.

Conclusion: The Price of Planetary Evolution

Space tourism may be the first step towards normalising interplanetary travel, but the true achievement will be the creation of self-sufficient colonies on the Moon and Mars. This will take decades, perhaps centuries, of trial and error. There will be failures. There will be tragedies. But each time, we will learn something new and move forward.

We cannot expect to reach the stars without accepting the price of ambition. If we want to become an interplanetary civilisation, we must have the courage to take risks. Even when it means losing something along the way. Like every explorer before us, we must look beyond the horizon and take the first step, without fear.