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*How old should the average Marsian settler be, once a settlement is founded?
Would it be wise to include people [in the early stages of establishing human life on Mars] above age 60? For women there are considerations of post-menopausal symptoms including rapid bone loss. For men, prostate and other urologic troubles can occur. People in their "silver years" are also more prone to heart troubles [palpitations, congestive heart failure, etc.], bouts of vertigo, etc.
It's not my intention to be disrespectful to the elderly population, or crowd them out; please know that. Their wisdom and experience would be invaluable on Mars, but their health troubles might be too much to deal with for the earliest settlers, considering all the other obstacles they will face. Certainly everyone will age on Mars...I'm simply suggesting the first settlers be young enough so that considerations of how to deal with an aging population on a different planet will have time for planning and forethought, rather than having to deal with it in the next 5-10 years.
Any thoughts?
Actually, I think the first nursing home on Mars would be a really cool place to visit, once such a thing is possible. And wouldn't it be wonderful if the conditions which promote the development of Alzheimer's is eradicated by lower gravity or the like?
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Well, I guess any age could go to Mars, if they wanted to. The problem is whether or not they could survive the trip. It's not hard to imagine an unhealthy or older person having a irreparable heart attack or something during the journey.
Unlike the journey to the Americas, we'll be able to largely ascertain someones ability to endure certain extremes. And it's probably our obligation to make sure an older person (or anyone, really) doesn't partake on a trip without them being complety aware of the dangers involved. Especially if they do have health problems outisde the normal afflictions of old age.
I suspect older people will find moving around on Mars a lot easier. It wouldn't be hard to imagine older people retiring on Mars (or Luna, for that matter), due to the lower gravity.
Either way, I don't see any reason to prevent people from going, as long as they are fully aware of the situation, and have the resources required to get them there.
Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.
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