SPACE agencies and star-obsessed billionaires have big plans for Mars.
Elon Musk wants there to be a human colony set up on the Red Planet by 2050 but the humans that go may not be able to take their beloved pets.
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Can we take dogs to Mars?
Nasa has some very ambitious plans for the Moon and Mars.
They involve humans but there’s been no word on whether pets can also be taken to space.
Clive Wynne is a psychology professor who directs the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University.
He has discussed and written about the topic of dogs going to Mars and has even implied that taking a cat may be better.
According to The Atlantic, Wyne said: “I think it would be inhumane to take a dog on a spaceship.”
And, added: “The dog is never going to sniff the roses.
“There’s not going to be any weather. The dog is never going to smell the fresh rain and splashing puddles, and never going to sniff a lamppost and realize there’s a new dog in town.”
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Any Earthly creature that goes to space, including humans, will have to deal with the harsh effects of space radiation.
We know when humans explore space, they have to wear protective suits and have a supply of oxygen.
How a dog would react to wearing a similar suit for long periods is unclear but important things like their sense of smell and interaction with other dogs would be limited.
There would also be the issue of communicating with a dog in a spacesuit and having to give it commands through microphones.
If humans do live on Mars, some scientists suggest it would be in protective domes that would allow them to exist in an environment similar to that of Earth.
This would still make taking your dog for a walk a totally different experience.
There’s also the issue of the contamination on spacecraft and Mars and whether pets could pose a risk to health and safety.
However, Nasa has never publically ruled out taking pets to space and even released depictions of humans and dogs on different planets.
Musk has also never ruled out taking pets to Mars.
Experts like Wyne seem to have ruled out taking dogs but are not necessarily planning for a pet-less future.
It’s thought pets like cats and other creatures that require less walking and commands could work out better for future space explorers.
Wyne was even quoted as saying: “I wonder if maybe it would be a better plan to take a cat”.
