Children

One issue, in more than one sense, will create a serious ethical problem on Mars. Procreation. Wherever human beings have gone, the settlement of new lands has of course entailed the birth and raising of children. How can a Mars colony be a true new beginning if having children and bringing them up is not involved? Several questions arise. Mars is a very dangerous environment. Should we expose children to the risk? We have of course always subjected kids to peril when we have settled new lands in the past. But we have very different attitudes to the safe upbringing of children today than we have had in the past. Leaving aside births on Mars, and if children were eligible for seats on a Mars voyage, I can easily imagine local social service department officials rushing to a launch site with court orders to hold the launch and take children into care. And that is not too bizarre a scenario. Think about it!

But birth on Mars is an even more crucial issue. Mars has a little more than one third Earth's gravity. We have experimented with the hatching of birds etc in the weightless environments of space stations. But the human gestation period is a long one, and child development is immensely longer. We have absolutely no idea what damage pregnancy and post-natal growth could do to a child born in the martian low-gravity environment. Significant birth defect, and drastically premature or still births are each possibilities. Beyond this, inadequate development of bone and musculature (including heart muscle) might be risks in a growing child.

Finally, supposing children can grow up fit and strong enough for Mars, we cannot guarantee that they would ever be able to survive on Earth. Imagine if we were transported to a planet with three times Earth's gravity. Our whole bodies would be subject to continuous and heavy strain, with dangers of resultant organ failure, broken limbs and damaged muscle. What if you weighed 400 or 500 lbs instead of ,say, 140 or 170? How much of a healthy life could you conceive of living? Yes Mars children would have our own genetic make-up in their favour. There is a chance that they might gradually adapt to Earth gravity. But we do not know that they would for certain. Suppose some disaster befalls a colony and we need to mount a rescue to Earth. What happens then to these children. Or what happens if returns from Mars become routinely practicable? How will a family be able to decide to re-migrate if the kids were born on Mars; and, if they cannot, then may they gradually become malcontents for a colony to deal with?

These questions need serious consideration if a natural human life is to become established on Mars. We need to start thinking about them soon.