Obama advocates the “great leap” to Mars – THE DEBATE

Washington.— The next goal of the president of the united States is ambitious: to humanity to get to Mars by 2030. In a letter released by CNN, Barack Obama announced "the great leap" of the space program american, a proposal that will be made in partnership with a private sector very much interested in this objective and is already taking steps to achieve that goal.

"We’ve set a clear goal and vital to the next chapter of the history of the united States in the space: to send humans to Mars in the 2030′s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ambition that one day they can stay there for a long time," wrote Obama, convinced that EU is going "the right way" to achieve this, in a text that reviews the successes of the space program by the u.s. throughout history. The first step will be to allow private companies to send their astronauts, for the first time, to the International Space Station —the next year— and, hence, the advance to build habitat outside of earth’s orbit: a few missions that give you information on how and how far you can live from the Land. Something "that we will need for our long trip to Mars", he argued.

today, said Obama in his article, more than a thousand businesses in the country are working on initiatives space private and in the coming days will gather in Pittsburgh, scientists, engineers, innovators and students to find the "next frontiers".

The scientific community applauded vigorously the proposal of Obama, especially by the incentive that it poses to researchers.

"The Red Planet is calling us and we have to respond," said Ramses Ramirez, phd in astronomy at Cornell University, to THE UNIVERSAL. The scientific expert, who sees a "very viable and essential" to have the goal of getting to Mars, justified its importance by "returns scientists amazing" that you would like that go out of the moon program. "I hope a few leaps in technology in our society similar to, if not greater, that improve the lot of humanity", it predicted.

The expert in the Solar System pointed out that the success of the proposal will depend on the political interest is maintained up to 2030. "Not lack scientific knowledge: lack of political desire, and that has been our biggest enemy since the end of the era of the Apollo," he lamented. There, in his opinion, says the importance of the partnership with the private sector, and even will need to "forge international collaborations," to your success.

The long-term goal is to convert Mars into a planet that could host life. "Mars is the only planet in the Solar System, besides Earth, that could be a world habitable. In the long term, the road to the stars it passes by Mars," explained to this newspaper Edwin Kite, a professor of the University of Chicago.

Ramirez pointed out that in addition to the analysis of geological and biological of Mars, would have to "assess the ethics" that would live on Mars, and the coexistence of the pre-existent life. But what is clear: "The colonies on Mars could help to ensure the continuation of life on this planet", he concluded.

With information: Universal