Persuasive Essay Example about Going to Mars

Going to Mars seems like such a great and exciting idea. It has so many risks that make the trip not worth it. When looking at all the factors it is clear to see that taking this trip would have such a negative effect on the people that choose to go. Primarily people's mental health would have a big toll taken on it. There is so much unknown about space that it would just not be smart to take this trip to Mars. We first should do so much more research before putting someone's life in danger because we were anxious to get to Mars. 

When it comes to exploration of Mars, I believe it is an awful idea. I just do not think anyone has the mental health for it. The first source I found talks about how moving kids from town to town affects their mental health. At first someone might ask why this is relevant because it does not even compare to moving to Mars, but if moving just a few towns over affects kids so much then imagine moving to Mars. The article focuses on a study conducted on the mental health of kids in military families. It goes on to explain that because there is so much awareness from the parents realizing that their kid might be affected that they get the help they need, while someone not in a military family the parents might not notice. The article states “the effect of a move might be greater on nonmilitary children, because the "stable parental employment, consistent health care and a sense of community that is not bounded by geography" that comes with being part of a military family may give those children some protection against mental health problems. It's possible that mental health visits were more common among those who moved because moving prompted increased awareness by parents” (Searing 3). Already with moving a few towns over kids are suffering imagine the toll colonizing Mars would have on not only the family members left behind but the members that go to Mars. 

My next article talks about the effects on teens moving away from home to go to college. Again, when teens are affected this much with such a small move compared to what people want to do imagine people going to Mars. The author states “Further, the experience of such a significant adjustment may be related closely to the development of physical illness or other symptoms. For example, the development of physical illness was found to be more likely in individuals who experienced an accumulation of many difficult life experiences within a relatively brief period” (Dyson, Rank 3). The article goes on to show that adaptation to college life is a lot of times stressful on kids. They have surroundings they have never seen and must uphold expectations that they have never had to meet before. The young adults in this world are our future, and if someone cannot even tell if they are ready to go to college or not, they will not be able to tell if they can last on this mission without a mental toll. This is just showing that the kids that eventually would have to travel to Mars would not do good under so much stress, and even the other adults would be facing challenges they have never had to go through.  

Next my last piece of evidence talks about another astronaut's experience in space and why not everyone can do it. An astronaut is even sharing his own personal experiences where people go crazy at the space station. If someone goes that crazy while just doing manual repairs, and just doing their general job imagine if someone were to try to live on Mars. In one particular part it says “He had a dream about a toothache... And he started obsessing over it worrying ‘well gee what if I really had a medical or physical problem, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it” (Verge 3:50). The video goes on to explain that this man had a psychological issue come up to where he had to be talked down from it and he went crazy from being in such a small space with no resources. From just this experience someone who they thought was able to survive such a challenge still had a mental toll and affected their mission. Living on Mars you would not just be completing a simple task for about a year then going home; going to Mars would have to be a long-term mission and eventually other people would be added on to the first people to colonize Mars. Someone going on this mission would have to pass all of the tests to go into space, and also, they would have to be willing to give up their whole life on Mars practically forever. I just do not think that going to Mars would be very beneficial for our mental health, and we have no idea what the long-term effects will be. 

From the evidence provided above it is clear that this is not the best idea. From not only a young child's view is this obvious but even an astronaut that has lived in space explains how terrible this experience is on your mind. If a child has issues moving to a different state, or a young adult struggle acclimating to college life it will not be much better going to a different Planet years away. Being so far away from home with little to no connection to their family is going to have such a big toll on mental health. Especially if someone thinks they are ready to go on that mission then decide halfway through that they were not ready they are going to feel so trapped, and most likely this is going to lead to suicide amongst the crew and witnessing that on a mission is going to affect everyone else on that mission.