Question: If the earth's atmosphere were to break would we go to mars if so how long would it take, would it happen in our lifetime. Would we have enough materials to take us there if so how long would we survive there for? @scott

Scott Lawrie answered on 9 Mar 2016:

Hey lil Einstein. I hope you’ll be as clever as the real thing one day!

First of all, the atmosphere won’t ‘break’. Carbon Dioxide levels are going up, but it won’t get to a level where we can’t breathe for a very long time. The real reason to go to Mars and other planets (and stars!) is to colonise them so we don’t have all our eggs in one basket (the Earth) in case of a much bigger problem than the atmosphere. For example a meteor collision or nuclear war. Mars and the Moon are also nice because they have useful materials (such as water and a rare type of helium) and a low gravity so it’s easier to get those materials into space to transport to Earth or somewhere else.

We’ve certainly got the materials to go to Mars or the Moon, and we could probably do it very quickly if we had to, but as with most things it all comes down to money. It would be very expensive and governments aren’t willing to put enough money into space exploration so it’s all very slow progress. Commercial companies like SpaceX aren’t limited by government money so are trying to go to Mars a lot sooner (less than 10 years, maybe!) so keep your eye on the news.

It would take a few months to get to Mars and take a few trips to set up a suitable base. As long as we can grow food and generate water, we could survive there for ever! What a fantastic human achievement that would be – I wish I could be part of it 😀