William Hunt

Professor Padgett
UWRT-1102-066
March 9 2015
Annotated Bibliography
Topic: Sending humans to Mars
Inquiry question: Should we send humans to Mars?
Proposed thesis: Sending humans to Mars has many benefits to humanity, and therefore
should continue to be pursued.

SEEDHOUSE, ERIK. Martian Outpost: The Challenges of Establishing a Human

Settlement on Mars. Berlin: Springer, 2009. Print.
This book on establishing a human settlement on Mars, details the various aspects
of the endeavor. This work is a comprehensive source addressing the benefits,
challenges, and the scientific figures to back up reasons advocating the settling of
humans on Mars. Seedhouse uses his expertise to address all of the primary
concerns related to the subject. He addresses the health implications of sending
humans to Mars, which is one of the main drawbacks on the topic. Dr. Erik
Seedhouse is currently an aerospace scientist and Astronaut Instructor who gained
his Ph.D. working at the German Space Agency's Institute for Space Medicine.
He has published over a dozen books related to space exploration and medicine.
LEVINE, JOEL S., Ph.D., and Rudy Schild, Ph.D. "The Human Mission to Mars
Colonizing the Red Planet." Journal of Cosmology 12 (2010): 3558-565. Web.
This article describes many different aspects of human missions to Mars.
Specifically, one section describes some of the problems associated with sending
humans to Mars. There are differing opinions on why humanity should or should
not pursue this challenging endeavor. The writers say that []science, national
pride, or technological spin-offs are some of the primary stances that people
disagree on as to why Mars should be pursued. Addressing these stances and
relating them to one another provides solid support for sending humans to Mars.
Coates, Andrew J., Ph.D. "Limited By Cost: The Case Against Humans In The Scientific
Exploration Of Space." Earth, Moon, and Planets 87 (2001): 213-19. Web. 10
Mar. 2015.
This article describes some of the reasons against the use of humans in space
exploration. There is a specific reference to the cost associated with this subject.
Coates writes, Problems with the technology needed for cheap, re-usable space
transport keeps mankind grounded for the foreseeable future. This is a one of the
main cost concerns discussed and is currently being researched and tested by a
private space company. He continues to speculate (without specific information to
reference) that this exploration would cost []at least as much as the hundreds
of billions of dollars Apollo cost Americans. This astronomical cost speculation
is one shared by many people, but is not necessarily realistic. This is a negative
view that can easily be argued based on other sources available. Coates is a
Professor of Physics and Head of Planetary Science at the Mullard Space Science
Laboratory, University College London.
EHLMANN, BETHANY L., Jeeshan Chowdhury, Timothy C. Marzullo, R. Eric Collins,

EHLMANN, BETHANY L., Jeeshan Chowdhury, Timothy C. Marzullo, R. Eric Collins,

Julie Litzenberger, Stuart Ibsen, Wendy R. Krauser, Brandon Dekock, Michael
Hannon, Jessica Kinnevan, Rebekah Shepard, and F. Douglas Grant. "Humans to
Mars: A Feasibility and Costbenefit Analysis." Acta Astronautica 56.9-12
(2005): 851-58. Web.
In this article, written by scholars from various universities and one person from
the NASA Ames Research Center, gives more insight into many different aspects
of the risks and benefits of sending humans to Mars. One particular section
describes the cost associated with this and compares it to the current spending
done by other parts of the government. This helps to put more realistic costs into
perspective and to show that it could still pale in comparison to what is spent
elsewhere (i.e. human services).
SHAGHAGHI, AZAM, and Konstantinos Antonakopoulos. "The Societal Impacts of a
Mars Mission in the Future of Space ExplorationA." The Societal Impacts of a
Mars Mission in the Future of Space Exploration. Physics Procedia, 2012. Web.
15 Mar. 2015.
This article has been written to outline how future Mars missions will impact
society. The contributors to this outline the various parts of society that will be
(more directly) impacted by this exploration based on current technologies. This
gives provides more information on how missions to Mars will benefit each sector
of society (i.e. government, education, businesses, etc). Shaghaghi is a
contributor from NASA Ames Research Center, while Konstantinos is from the
Department of Computer and Information Science at the Norwegian University of
Information and Technology.