A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?

Weinersmith, Kelly (author.). Weinersmith, Zach, 1982- (author,, illustrator.).

Summary: In a world hurtling toward human expansion into space, 'A City on Mars' investigates whether the dream of new worlds won't create nightmares, both for settlers and the people they leave behind. In the process, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith answer every question about space you've ever wondered about, and many you've never considered. Can you make babies in space? Should corporations govern space settlements? What about space war? Are we headed for a housing crisis on the Moon's Peaks of Eternal Light-and what happens if you're left in the Craters of Eternal Darkness? With deep expertise, a winning sense of humor, and art from the beloved creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, the Weinersmiths investigate perhaps the biggest questions humanity will ever ask itself-whether and how to become multiplanetary.

Record details

ISBN: 9781984881724 (hardcover)
Physical Description: print
436 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, [2023]
Copyright: ©2023

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: a homesteader's guide to the red planet? -- A preamble on space myths -- Part I. Caring for the spacefaring -- Suffocation, bone loss, and flying pigs: the science of space physiology -- Space sex and consequences thereof -- Spacefarer psychology: in which the only thing we're sure of is that astronauts are liars -- Nota bene: rocketry goes to the movies, or, space capitalism in days of yore, Part 1 -- Part II. Spome, spome on the range: where will humans live off-world? -- The moon: great location, bit of a fixer-upper -- Mars: landscapes of poison and toxic skies, but what an opportunity! -- Giant rotating space wheels: not literally the worst option -- Worse options -- Nota bene: space is the place for product placement, or, space capitalism in days of yore, Part 2 -- Part III. Pocket edens: how to create a human terrarium that isn't all that terrible -- Outputs and inputs: poop, food, and "closing the loop" -- There's no place like spome: how to build outer-space habitats -- Nota bene: the mystery of the tampon bandolier -- Part IV. Space law for space settlements: weird, vague, and hard to change -- A cynical history of space -- The outer space treaty: great for regulating space sixty years ago -- Murder in space: who killed the moon agreement? -- Nota bene: space cannibalism from a legal and culinary perspective -- Part V. The paths forward: bound for moonsylvania? -- Commonsing the cosmos -- Dividing the sky -- The birth of space-states: like the birth of space babies, but messier -- Nota bene: violence in Antarctica, or, happy endings to stabby starts -- Part VI. To plan B or not to plan B: space society, expansion, and existential risk -- There's no labor pool on Mars: outer space as a company town -- How big is big? Plan B settlements without genetic or economic calamities -- Space politics by other means: on the possibility of space war -- A brief coda on a rarely considered alternative: wait-and-go-nowhere -- Nota bene: amusing astronaut names and the Soviet tendency to fuss over weird details -- Conclusion: of hot tubs and human destiny.