Abstract
The start of the century marked the beginning of a new era of scientific goals and technological achievements in space technologies, together with the new visions of space exploration ambitions. The enterprising plans of space travels and creation of first human settlement on Mars are frequently presented as the next proverbial giant leap for humankind. The chapter focuses on private space programmes and considers the motivations for future exploration of Mars from a sociocultural perspective. Further, it discusses why Mars is of such importance to public imagination today. In presenting a socio-science fiction, and regarding science as the primary mode of operating of such endeavour, the chapter argues that the Martian colonists will need to live in the extreme environments, survive unprecedented scenarios and in a way become organisms that thrive in extreme conditions, extremophiles, themselves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aristotle. (1912). Politics: A treatise on government. Translated From The Greek Of Aristotle By William Ellis, A.M. London &. Toronto Published By JÂ M Dent & Sons Ltd. & In New York By E. P. Dutton &. Co. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6762/6762-h/6762-h.htm.
Arnould, J. (2014). The explorer’s complex. Space Policy, 30(4), 185–189.
Baraty, Navid. (2012). Mars curiosity rover landing broadcast at times square, Earth. Flickr, Yahoo!, 6 Aug 2012. www.flickr.com/photos/vwmang/7724074220/in/photostream/.
Berger, A. A. (1997). Narratives in popular culture, media, and everyday life. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Billings, L. (2007). Overview: Ideology, advocacy, and spaceflight–evolution of a cultural narrative. In Societal impact of spaceflight (483–499).
Billings, L. (2017). Should humans colonize other planets? No. Theology and Science, 15(3), 321–332.
Bishop, S. L., Kobrick, R., Battler, M., & Binsted, K. (2010). FMARS 2007: Stress and coping in an arctic Mars simulation. Acta Astronautica, 66(9–10), 1353–1367.
Byrd, R. E. (2003). Alone: The classic polar adventure (p. 1937). First published in: Island Press.
Bubeev, Y. A. E., Gushin, V. I., Vasil’eva, G. Y. E., Vinokhodova, A. G. E., & Shved, D. M. (2014). Main findings of psychophysiological studies in the Mars 500 experiment. Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 84(2), 106–114.
Capova, K. A. (2016). The new space age in the making: Emergence of exo-mining, exo-burials and exo-marketing. International Journal of Astrobiology, 15(4), 307–310.
Capova, K. A., Persson, E., Milligan, T., & Duner, D. (Eds.). (2018). Astrobiology and society in Europe today., Springer Briefs in Astronomy Cham: Springer.
Cary, M., & Strauss, M. (2018). Majority of Americans believe space exploration remains essential. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 26 July 2018, www.pewinternet.org/2018/06/06/majority-of-americans-believe-it-is-essential-that-the-u-s-remain-a-global-leader-in-space.
Christianson, G. E. (1976). Kepler’s Somnium: Science fiction and the renaissance scientist. Science Fiction Studies, 3(1), 79–90.
Cockell, C. (2002). Mars is an awful place to live. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 27(1), 32–38.
Color Controversies Started With Mars, Not With #TheDress. Space Editorial, NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, February, 2015, www.nbcnews.com/science/space/color-controversies-started-mars-not-thedress-n314601.
Deviant Art. (2013).Yankee Go Home. www.deviantart.com/myjavier007/art/Yankee-Go-Home-408695673.
Dunbar, R. I. (1998). The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews: Issues, News, and Reviews, 6(5), 178–190.
Fairén, A. G., Parro, V., Schulze-Makuch, D., & Whyte, L. (2017). Searching for life on Mars before it is too late. Astrobiology, 17(10), 962–970.
Franklin, S. (1995). Science as culture, cultures of science. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 163–184.
Ferrier, E. (1913). What is life on Mars like? The North American Review, 197(686), 105–111.
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.
Harding, S. G. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge?: Thinking from women’s lives. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Helmreich, S. (2009). Alien ocean: Anthropological voyages in microbial seas. Berkeley: University of California Press.
IMDb. (2012a). Release dates for The War of the Worlds (1953). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/releaseinfo.
IMDb. (2012b). Release dates for War of the Worlds (1985). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407304/releaseinfo.
Ipsos MORI. (2014). Britons give UKIP as much chance of winning the European elections as finding life on Mars. Retrieved from, www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3335/Britons-give-UKIP-as-much-chance-of-winning-the-European-elections-as-finding-life-on-Mars.aspx. Accessed 05 Dec 2015.
Jasentuliyana, N. (1993). Getting it right for Mars. Space Policy, 9(1), 5–9.
Kerrest, A. (2011). Outer space as international space: Lessons from Antarctica. Science Diplomacy: Antarctica, Science, and the Governance of International Spaces 133–142.
Kirby, D. A. (2003). Science consultants, fictional films, and scientific practice. Social Studies of Science, 33(2), 231–268.
Knapton, S. (2017). Human race is doomed if we do not colonise the Moon and Mars, Says Stephen Hawking. The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved June 20, 2017, from www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/06/20/human-race-doomed-do-not-colonise-moon-mars-says-stephen-hawking/.
Koepsell, D. (2017). Mars One: Human subject concerns? Astropolitics, 15(1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/14777622.2017.1288512.
Kumar, S., Suman, S., Fornace, A. J., & Datta, K. (2018). Space radiation triggers persistent stress response, increases senescent signaling, and decreases cell migration in mouse intestine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018, 201807522. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807522115.
Lowell, P. (1903). The cartouches of Mars. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 42(174), 353–377.
Lowell, P. (1909). Mars as the Abode of Life. Science, 30(767), 338–340.
Mars One. (2018a). Roadmap—Mission. www.mars-one.com/mission/roadmap.
Mars One. (2018b). Mars One Astronauts—Mission. www.mars-one.com/mission/mars-one-astronauts.
Messeri, L. (2016). Placing outer space: An earthly ethnography of other worlds. Durham: Duke University Press Books.
Milligan, T. (2011). Property rights and the duty to extend human life. Space Policy, 27(4), 190–193.
Musk, E. (2017). Making humans a multi-planetary species. New Space, 5(2), 46–61.
Murdock, G. (1940). The cross-cultural survey. American Sociological Review, 5(3), 361–370.
Olson, V. A. (2012). Political ecology in the extreme: Asteroid activism and the making of an environmental solar system. Anthropological Quarterly 85, 1027–1044.
Persson, E. (2015). Citizens of Mars Ltd. In Human governance beyond Earth (121–137). Cham: Springer.
Pierson, T. (2006). SETI Institute as a model for managing interdisciplinary science. Acta Astronautica, 58(9), 478–484.
Race, M. (2011). Policies for scientific exploration and environmental protection: Comparison of the Antarctic and outer space treaties. In P. A. Berkman, M. A. Lang, D. W. H. Walton, & O. R. Young (Eds.), Science diplomacy: Antarctica, science and the governance of international spaces (pp. 143–152). Washington, DC, USA: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
Rynearson, E. (1978). Humans and pets and attachment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133(6), 550–555. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.133.6.550.
Schroeder, J. E., & Tuttle, M. L., (1992). Investigation of possible causes for human-performance degradation during microgravity flight. Technical Report, Document ID 19920012102, NASA.
Scott, R. F. (2006). Journals: Captain Scott’s last expedition. OUP Oxford.
Shackleton, E. H. (1920). South: The story of Shackleton’s last expedition (1914–1917). Macmillan.
Slobodian, R. E. (2015). Selling space colonization and immortality: A psychosocial, anthropological critique of the rush to colonize Mars. Acta Astronautica, 113, 89–104.
SXSW, Source: Elon Musk: We Must Colonise Mars to Preserve Our Species after a Third World War—Video. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, March 12, 2018, from, www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2018/mar/12/elon-musk-we-must-colonise-mars-to-preserve-our-species-after-a-third-world-war-video.
Traweek, S. (1988). Beamtimes and lifetimes: The world of high energy physicists. Cambridge: Mass. Harvard University Press.
United Nations. (1959). Disarmament treaties database: Antarctic treaty. https://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/antarctic.
Valentine, D. (2012). Exit strategy: Profit, cosmology, and the future of humans in space. Anthropological Quarterly, 85(4), 1045–1067.
Wade Holler, M. Demographics have no impact on American’s confidence that humans will go to Mars within two decades. Explore Mars, March 2013, www.exploremars.org/topic/boeing.
Williams, R. (2014). Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society. Oxford University Press.
Williams, L. (2010). Irrational dreams of space colonization. Peace Review, 22(1), 4–8.
Wells, H. G. (1898). The War of the Worlds. Book one: The coming of the martians, chapter one: The eve of the war. Project Gutenberg: HTML e-book, 2004. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36/36-h/36-h.htm.
Welles, O. (1938). The War of the Worlds. Radio Play. USA: The Mercury Theater on the Air. (Adaptation of the book by H.G. Wells). www.mercurytheatre.info. Accessed 30 Mar 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Capova, K.A. (2019). Human Extremophiles: Mars as a Camera Obscura of the Extraterrestrial Scientific Culture. In: Szocik, K. (eds) The Human Factor in a Mission to Mars. Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02059-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02059-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02058-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02059-0
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)