This, along with the Mars Society MDRS site posted earlier got me to thinking about the science in space exploration.

So often, NASA is criticized for rationalizing the manned space program on the grounds of science -- touting the ISS as a microgravity laboratory and zero-G space medicine research facility, among other things. While NASA does to a great deal of good science (the planetary programs, Hubble), these science-based rationalizations for humans in space are transparent even to the space advocacy community. Robert Zubrin, for one example, has questioned the value of the life sciences portion ot the manned space program, on the grounds that zero-G information is irrelevant if we plan to colonize a planet with one-third gravity.

So why then does the Mars Society itself focus so intently on geology and paleobiology in the goings-on at its research stations?

I can think of a number of perfectly valid reasons for it, not least the need to do something at the stations to provide the learning experiences, and simulating EVA procedures, collecting rocks, and examining them for signs of life are relatively inexpensive tasks for this purpose.

However, as the Society matures and more funding for the research stations becomes available, more effort needs to be put into simulations targeted at the real reason we wish to go to Mars: settlement. The MDRS greenhouse is a step in this direction, but down the road it would be nice to see suited crews scratch-building more sophisticated living quarters, operating and maintaining equipment for extracting useful materials from local resources, and practicing other aspects of settlement-construction.

Science has an important place in our eventual exploration of Mars, but the first priority should be the establishment of a permanent and self-sustaining human presence on the planet.