Should we settle Mars, or is it a dumb idea for humans to live off world?
Mars is back on the agenda.
During his address to a joint session of Congress in March, President Donald Trump said the United States “will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
What does this mean? Manifest destiny is the belief, which was particularly widespread in 1800s America, that US settlers were destined to expand westward across North America. Similarly, then, the Trump administration believes it is the manifest destiny of Americans to settle Mars. And he wants his administration to take steps toward accomplishing that goal.
