Maciej Cegłowski
Founder of Pinboard; writes Idle Words — talks and essays on the web, aviation, politics and travel.
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What they believe
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We should not send human beings to Mars any time soon.
The goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human beings to Mars, at least not anytime soon.
idlewords.comSaid 1 Jan 2023This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
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From one piece Why Not Mars 9 beliefs · idlewords.com
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korrents.com
The crewed Mars programme is the biggest project in history and nobody can say what it is for.Their words
Somehow we’ve embarked on the biggest project in history even though it has no articulable purpose, offers no benefits, and will cost taxpayers more than a good-sized war.
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Their words
So I’ve come to believe the best way to look at our Mars program is as a faith-based initiative.
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korrents.com
Planetary protection rules will keep astronauts on Mars away from everything on Mars worth studying.Their words
The phenomena of greatest scientific interest on Mars (gullies, recurrent slope lineae, intermittent methane sources, and underground water) will all be off-limits to astronauts.
+ 6 more
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korrents.com
Landing people on Mars would contaminate it and destroy the evidence of life we went there to find.Their words
Like careless investigators who didn’t wear gloves to a crime scene, we would risk permanently destroying the evidence we came to collect.
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Their words
With our current capability, NASA would struggle to keep a crew alive for six months on the White House lawn, let alone for years in a Martian yurt.
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korrents.com
The International Space Station exists mainly to teach its builders how to build another space station.Their words
The ISS crew spend most of their time fixing the machinery that keeps them alive, and when they have a free moment for science, they tend to study the effect of space on themselves.
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korrents.com
A crewed spacecraft does no work: putting people aboard is what stops a mission getting anything done.Their words
In 2023, we simply take it for granted that if a rocket goes up carrying passengers, it’s not going to get any work done.
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korrents.com
Fifty years of miniaturisation have made robotic spacecraft better and cheaper explorers than astronauts.Their words
But fifty years of progress in miniaturization and software changed the balance between robots and humans in space.
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Their words
The goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human beings to Mars, at least not anytime soon.
26 April 2022
4 October 2020
3 September 2020
8 August 2020
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 9 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
We should not send human beings to Mars any time soon.
The goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human beings to Mars, at least not anytime soon.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
Fifty years of miniaturisation have made robotic spacecraft better and cheaper explorers than astronauts.
But fifty years of progress in miniaturization and software changed the balance between robots and humans in space.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
A crewed spacecraft does no work: putting people aboard is what stops a mission getting anything done.
In 2023, we simply take it for granted that if a rocket goes up carrying passengers, it’s not going to get any work done.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
Show 6 more
The International Space Station exists mainly to teach its builders how to build another space station.
The ISS crew spend most of their time fixing the machinery that keeps them alive, and when they have a free moment for science, they tend to study the effect of space on themselves.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
The real obstacle to a Mars landing is closed-loop life support, not propulsion.
With our current capability, NASA would struggle to keep a crew alive for six months on the White House lawn, let alone for years in a Martian yurt.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
Landing people on Mars would contaminate it and destroy the evidence of life we went there to find.
Like careless investigators who didn’t wear gloves to a crime scene, we would risk permanently destroying the evidence we came to collect.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
Planetary protection rules will keep astronauts on Mars away from everything on Mars worth studying.
The phenomena of greatest scientific interest on Mars (gullies, recurrent slope lineae, intermittent methane sources, and underground water) will all be off-limits to astronauts.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
The Mars programme is a faith rather than a policy: it survives because people believe in it, not because it has a purpose.
So I’ve come to believe the best way to look at our Mars program is as a faith-based initiative.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
The crewed Mars programme is the biggest project in history and nobody can say what it is for.
Somehow we’ve embarked on the biggest project in history even though it has no articulable purpose, offers no benefits, and will cost taxpayers more than a good-sized war.
Why Not Mars Said 1 Jan 2023
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Where they publish
Blog Idle Words His essays and the texts of his talks. Has a feed.
Recent
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- New Martian Writing 26 Mar 2026 If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new substack newsletter, titled 'Mars for the Rest of Us', where I've been posting weekly essays on topics around Mars exploration…
Show 7 more
- The Shape of a Mars Mission 19 Feb 2025 This post is the second in a series. Read part one here. “From a mathematics and trajectory standpoint and with a certain kind of technology, there’s not too many different ways to go to Mars. It’s been pretty well figu…
- The Lunacy of Artemis 24 May 2024 Introduction A Note on Apollo I. The Rocket II. The Capsule III. The Orbit IV. Gateway V. The Lander VI. Refueling VII. Conclusion Notes A little over 51 years ago, a rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying three…
- Why Not Mars 1 Jan 2023 For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. — Richard Feynman Entrance to underground cavern on Pavonis Mons. HiRISE, 2011 The goal of this essay is to p…
- My Taipei Quarantine 26 Apr 2022 Part of what brought me to Taiwan was bureaucratic thrill seeking. Few other countries had gone from “just hop on a plane” to North Korean levels of inaccessibility as fast as Taiwan, and like a cat that paws at a door…
- Protests and Power 4 Oct 2020 In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on authoritarianism and democracy. They declined to publish my submission, which I am sharing here instead. When the George Floyd prote…
- Effective Political Giving 3 Sept 2020 With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically panicked. You're anxious, you feel the need to do something, and you have a little money to spare. Who should you give it to?…
- Sara Huddleston on the Latino Vote in Iowa 8 Aug 2020 Last week I spoke with Sara Huddleston, candidate for Iowa state house in district 11 (Storm Lake). A longtime community organizer and three-term city council member, she was the first Latina elected to a city council i…
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