Part II From science fiction to non-fiction

Copyright by Anna Lem

Mars is not an alternative for earthlings

Interwiew with toMaSZ LeM, son of Stanisław Lem – Polish science fiction writer, philosopher and futurologist, author of such books as Solaris, The Cyberiad, The Star Diaries, Fables for Robots, Tales of Pirx the Pilot, The Futurological Congress, Observation on the Spot.

In his books Stanisław Lem reached the furthest frontiers of the universe, but actually heraised issues coming directly from the earth: human condition, future of mankind in the context of technological changes, threats to our civilization and the planet itself. did he believe that mankind could really be saved by the settlement of other planets/ systems?

I don’t remember my father ever seriously expressing the idea that mankind should look for another place in the universe, as an alternative to the earth. Such an idea is rather unreal from the point of view of the extrapolation of technologies which we now have at our disposal (which doesn’t, of course, determine future engineering possibilities which are unimaginable today). However, in order to save mankind we should probably start from rescuing the earth, that is from preventing climate changes which we cause – for example by giving up fossil fuels for the benefit of renewable energy. Besides, if we cannot use the earth’s deposits in a responsible way, why should we be able to do so on another planet?

Stanisław Lem often expressed very important topics in a humorous way. Would he be amused by the fact that elon Musk has sent a cheery-red car with a dummy on board, listening to david Bowie, towards Mars?

elon Musk has probably expected that the rocket would explode during the launch because I had the impression that he was quite surprised to see the car successfully sent into space. My father would probably be a bit scandalised at a flying Tesla in the sense that he wouldn’t approve of the trivialization of the conquest of space. When taking the first steps on the Moon, Neil Armstrong did not shout any Coca Cola advertising slogans; nor did he say any words which would sound patriotic to americans in the light of the cosmic race with russia, but which could be perceived by other nations as nationalism. It all probably comes down to a new discipline: limits of jokes in outer space – we don’t have a terrestrial textbook on cosmic savoir vivre yet. However, elon Musk’s cosmic tesla proves, without a doubt, that private companies may successfully compete with state institutions like naSa or eSa. What impressed me most was the successful landing of boosters and I imagine my father would also have been enchanted with this show.

Stanisław Lem once said that people should stay away from Mars because the planet had been dead for 2 billion years and it was impossible to breathe there. Yet, one of the plans of elon Musk is the so-called terraforming of Mars (that is to carry out deep processes aimed at transforming Mars into a planet similar to the earth, for example in the sense of creating human-friendly atmosphere), creation of human colonies and extraction of raw materials from this planet. are you able to say how Stanisław Lem would evaluate this idea? also in terms of ethics.

I believe my father would deem it impossible. I don’t know if he would engage in ethical deliberations. If we can’t refrain from destroying the earth, how could we know how to “settle” on Mars? And would the settlement of Mars be the hope for earthlings before the Sun starts to transform into a red giant? the chance that mankind will still exist at that time is rather slight, taking into account our suicidal tendencies. at the moment, we can’t settle anything and, due to cosmic radiation, a living and healthy man is not even able to reach Mars.

Stanisław Lem. Copyright by Tomasz Lem

Part III Flight to Mars