{"id":31696,"date":"2021-03-31T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=31696"},"modified":"2021-03-31T11:16:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:16:09","slug":"were-coronalockdowns-good-preparation-for-sending-humans-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/31\/were-coronalockdowns-good-preparation-for-sending-humans-to-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Were coronalockdowns good preparation for sending humans to Mars?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the dark BC age<\/a> it was thought that human psychology presented a significant barrier to human exploration of Mars. Humans were social animals who could never tolerate being locked into a small space for seven months<\/a>, unable to venture out into a hostile and dangerous environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, thanks to young people having meekly surrendered what had previously been considered liberties, we can now draw from a pool of tens of millions of people who spent an entire year in a tiny apartment, often entirely alone, either unable to venture outside or afraid to do so. Perhaps some of them suffered reduced mental health from being sedentary and watching a screen 24\/7. But for those who sailed through… this is the ideal pool from which to draw candidates for a Mars mission, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red planet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

(okay, it’s Jordan, 2012, and now apparently open for visitors<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the dark BC age it was thought that human psychology presented a significant barrier to human exploration of Mars. 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