Why Do People Want to Terraform Mars?

Name: Jana
What is your favorite planet or star? Rigel
What is your favorite rocket? Saturn V
Question: Why do people want to terraform Mars? I just think they shouldn’t because God made Mars as Mars, not Earth.

Thanks for your great question, Jana! The star Rigel (a blue supergiant in the Orion constellation) is definitely an awesome star. I like it because it’s one of the brightest stars in the night sky! And the Saturn V is also my favorite rocket too!

Public Domain via NASA
Image of Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula

Now to your question, reworded another way, should Christians (children of God) support or even bother with possibly terraforming and colonizing other planets, like Mars? Well, the short answer is . . . yes! And it’s all based on our dominion mandate (taking care of everything given to us by God) over his creation (Psalm 8:3-6) that was originally given to Adam, in the Garden of Eden, on day six of creation (Genesis 1:26-31).

If we had the resources (which we currently don’t have) to accomplish these really cool goals, then going to a planet like Mars is actually our best option. As one of Earth’s closest neighbors1 with decent sunlight, seasons, and temperatures somewhat like Earth (more similar than any other body in our solar system), Mars is definitely the top candidate for any sort of manned mission beyond the Moon!

Daein Ballard, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons
Artistic image that illustrates the process of terraforming Mars

But before that happens, since Mars has almost zero oxygen in its atmosphere2 (plus much lower air pressure than Earth, etc.), we first need to figure out how to keep astronauts alive on Mars. This is why scientists are hard at work trying to come up with really good solutions to have life-support systems and protective housing for the astronauts on Mars. And this has inspired many scientists to imagine ways of terraforming Mars to be a habitable planet, like Earth. The Bible says human life is precious and made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:14) so we must do our best to protect all life. This also should remind us of how very special the Earth is that God made for us to inhabit (Isaiah 45:18).

Public Domain via NASA
Artistic image of astronauts on Mars

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Belgica during the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899, which was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region.

But before we dive into this question further, we first need to see why humans, made in the image of God, have always been “hardwired” to explore everything around us. People everywhere have been continuing to spread out all over the world. And, like many of the early explorers of Antarctica (a really cold place at the south pole), we’re even willing to risk our own lives! But, from a biblical worldview, why is that?

The answer is in the Bible! God wants us to keep spreading out, which all started with his original command to have dominion, by caring for all his creation, and to fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). But, in order for us to do that, we need to explore all of his creation!

After the global flood, God gave a similar command to Noah and his family, after they exited the ark, to spread out and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). But his descendants didn’t obey this command. They refused to spread out, remaining grouped together in one place, when they rebelliously built the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Then God forced all the people groups there to spread out over the earth.

Image of Christopher Columbus via Openclickart.org, Ship replica image public domain via Wikimedia Commons
1892 replica of the La Santa María, the largest Spanish ship used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492.

Fast-forward to today and we have now (pretty much) explored all the earth (land, sea, and sky). So, what’s left now? It’s the next (final) frontier—outer space! Like the early European sailors, such as Christopher Columbus going across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World (the Americas), we are now aiming to explore other new worlds in the solar system, such as Mars!

Earth and Mars: public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Rocket: Rygle, based on Purzen, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cartoon of rocket flying from Earth to Mars (not to scale).

Now, going back to our question (should we support manned space-exploration efforts), we need to again go back to the Bible for our answer. Remember that it’s important we always start all our thinking with God’s Word!

As seen from Psalm 8, the heavens (everything in outer space) are the “work of God’s fingers” and that he has set the moon and stars (including all the planets) in their place. And we read,

You have given him [man] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet. (Psalm 8:6)

So, this suggests we have, not only the right, but the duty as part of our dominion mandate to explore all of God’s creation, including the heavens! And, in Psalm 19, we read,

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1–2)

And this means we have the awesome privilege of seeing God’s glory reflected in the heavens. So why wouldn’t we want to truly explore all of God’s amazing works?

But at this time, practically speaking, we don’t have the technology or resources to truly begin terraforming or colonizing Mars.3 There’s currently way too much risk and cost involved with these kinds of efforts, so it’s probably wise to not pursue them (yet).4 But that doesn’t mean we’ll never have all the stuff needed to actually pull off these space exploration adventures! If the risks/costs involved with space exploration continue to go down, then we can eventually (perhaps soon) begin colonization efforts on Mars.5 And, possibly one day in the future, even begin terraforming Mars. Now that would be cool!

Image via NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/journey_to_mars.jpeg
Illustration of NASA’s Journey to Mars.

So, in conclusion, Christians can (and, in my opinion, should) support future manned space explorations to other planets like Mars!6 These efforts will deepen our knowledge of God’s awesome creation and help us to meet our dominion mandate. Most importantly, the Bible says whatever we do needs to be all to the glory of our God and Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31). So, let’s continue to praise and glorify our holy God by discovering more about his amazing creation in the universe!

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