Inter-Solar Wars

Mars One is a group based in the Netherlands which began putting together a plan and team to colonize Mars in the not so distant future. They sponsored a contest last year to get people talking and applicants to see what kind of interest there might be. Some 250,000 people signed up. They've just opened up an Exchange (no link yet) to open up the dialogue further.

The idea is to send pods forward I believe, land them and then send the crew. The pods would have living quarters, green houses, etc etc. Those who go, stay. Its a one way ticket.

Its interesting though, with a discussion going on now about who gets mineral rights on the moon, it naturally goes over to who gets mineral rights on Mars. And clearly, its whoever is there. If these colonists began to thrive, and there is no reason that they shouldn't, it won't take them long to realize that they own the mineral rights to Mars.

And what follows next is long distant ship battles . . . just like the French and Indian War, American Revolution and any number of conflicts in the 18th century. It took months to get to the battle field, but highly trained, motivated militaries managed to do it.

But of course the colonists will have been infected by some local bacteria or they will have opened up some ancient crypt and released the evil within and then . . . .

Post script: Man, that post just went way south, way fast!