A City On Mars

Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, And Have We Really Thought This Through?

by ,

eBook, 448 pages

Published Nov. 7, 2023 by Penguin Press.

ISBN:
978-1-9848-8173-1
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4 stars (2 reviews)

Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate change, no war, no Twitter—beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of research, they aren’t so sure it’s a good idea. Space technologies and space business are progressing fast, but we lack the knowledge needed to have space kids, build space farms, and create space nations in a way that doesn’t spark conflict back home. In a world hurtling toward human expansion into space, A City on Mars investigates whether the dream of new worlds won’t create nightmares, both for settlers and the people they leave behind. In the process, the Weinersmiths answer every question about space you’ve ever wondered about, and many you’ve …

2 editions

reviewed A City on Mars by Zach Weinersmith

It's really not happening.

3 stars

In principle, it would be neat to have a backup planet in case something happens to this one. But in practice, everywhere apart from Terra is the absolute worst. Luna & Mars suck less than like… Venus, but that's not a great bar.

Terraforming begins at home. If you want to terraform Mars, how about… fixing this planet where billions of people still live, and will for the foreseeable future? We don't need to forget space, but there's so much more work to do to settle Mars, and most of it doesn't look at all like settling Mars.

reviewed A City on Mars by Zach Weinersmith

Accessible and intricately researched

5 stars

Accessible and intricately researched, with scattered humor to keep the reader's interest.

Getting to space is the easy part. Staying there is going to be a lot more complicated than anyone wants to believe. There are plenty of established tropes in science-fiction and among serious space enthusiasts, but a lot of them have major gaps in them when you start pressing for details. What happens to a fetus in microgravity? Can you scrape together enough soil nutrients to supply agriculture for a whole Mars city, or do you need to constantly import fertilizer from Earth? How do you make sure you have enough medical supplies on-hand?

The authors wanted to write about what we know about space settlement. But it turns out it's a really good primer for what we don't know and need to research before we can get serious.

It's also an interesting companion to Under Alien Skies …

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