THE solution to the world's economic woes is a human mission to Mars, delegates at the International Astronautical Congress in Cape Town heard yesterday.
Global society was in "a process of implosion" and a new frontier would re-ignite economic prosperity, the Mars Society's Emmanuel Etrakakis said.
His intriguingly titled paper, "Space or Suicide, Yes we Can", drew appreciative applause from those attending a "Mars Exploration" session.
Etrakakis, who according to the session programme is from Mozambique, said he had sent a copy of his paper to US President Barack Obama.
In it, he warned that the global economy was faltering and financial rescue plans were not working.
The modern world was characterised by "greed, aggression and speed"; hundreds of millions of people were living below the $30 (about R242) a day poverty line; and there were high levels of crime, drug proliferation, public discontent and environmental degradation.
Society needed the stimulus of a new frontier.
Mars 'can save world'
THE solution to the world's economic woes is a human mission to Mars, delegates at the International Astronautical Congress in Cape Town heard yesterday.
Global society was in "a process of implosion" and a new frontier would re-ignite economic prosperity, the Mars Society's Emmanuel Etrakakis said.
His intriguingly titled paper, "Space or Suicide, Yes we Can", drew appreciative applause from those attending a "Mars Exploration" session.
Etrakakis, who according to the session programme is from Mozambique, said he had sent a copy of his paper to US President Barack Obama.
In it, he warned that the global economy was faltering and financial rescue plans were not working.
The modern world was characterised by "greed, aggression and speed"; hundreds of millions of people were living below the $30 (about R242) a day poverty line; and there were high levels of crime, drug proliferation, public discontent and environmental degradation.
Society needed the stimulus of a new frontier.