蜜芽传媒

Today, is the anniversary of the US spacecraft, Viking 2 landing on Mars in 1976.

But the growing dream to inhabit the Red Planet remains a formidable one. Even at its closest point to earth, the journey would take much longer than the usual 6 month period on the space station.

So 5 days ago Nassa launched an ambitious programme to simulate the endurance test. On an isolated volcanic rock in Hawaii, an international group of six volunteers will live together under a tiny dome for 12 months, with artificial ventilation and canned food. And if they wonder outside the tent, they won鈥檛 be in beachwear: they鈥檒l be strolling in space suits.

But the real battle won鈥檛 be culinary boredom. Ultimately, it鈥檚 a marathon loss of privacy and personal space. (Pardon the pun!)

So the challenge facing the team will be the same for all of us: learning to live together with limited resources. Which means that the experiment will be more about human relationships than about hard science.

The survival of our species has always been about relationships in relation to resources. Sibling squabbles over inheritance claims, civil wars over natural resources, and land grabbing are all age-old expressions of this equation.

For me it鈥檚 reminiscent of the old biblical story of the family feud between Abram and his nephew, Lot. In the land of Canaan where water could be scarce, the plains around Bethel became too crowded for their combined wealth and livestock. In addition, two indigenous tribes were also busy grazing the land.

Abram was gracious in the grumbling. Somehow, the biblical giant of faith was able to put the conflict in a wider context and came up with a solution. 鈥淭he whole land belongs to everyone,鈥� he suggested, 鈥淚f you go east, I鈥檒l go west.鈥�

Admittedly, in the geo-political complexities of the 21st century this is not such a straightforward proposition. But to my mind, the attitude has to be right. For as in Abram鈥檚 case, it isn鈥檛 a lack of personal resources, which often leads to a competitive spirit, but a myopic view of ownership based on self-interest and a reluctance to share resources.

Wherever we are, human achievement will always depend on the basic ability to give more than we take.

And this will be true for the Mars experiment. As a 蜜芽传媒 journalist suggested, 鈥淗ow they resolve their differences, could help to determine whether or not humans make it to Mars.鈥�

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