95211 - The rebirth of Mars

N. Lygeros

Mars isn’t an unknown planet and we have many data about its past. Mars isn’t totally empty. We aren’t talking about a tabula rasa. It’s of course difficult to imagine its past because we don’t have any historical evidence. But we will slowly build it. We made many steps with many Martian Missions. Of course, it’s not sufficient. At the same time, it’s not an empty set. There ia a core of knowledge and everybody has in his memory the stories of Carl Sagan which are a support for the next steps. It’s not only about Martian Chronicles of Ray Bradbury. We have already created a new reality on Mars. We have pictures, videos and even sounds now. We can have also the impression of a lack. We miss mars. Mars is a part of our heritage from the past but we have to think about our legacy for the future. Now, we are ready to be the Martian Generation. We don’t need to have only the decades as reference. It’s possible to say that our parents were the Luna Generation and that we have to continue their exploration. It’s not a question to do the same thing. We have to go further. We don’t need to go again on the Moon. We have to stay there to master the way to go to Mars and also to stay there. We have to be the Martian settlers.