Mars 2031 Research Paper

Humans will get to Mars by 2031; this could be your future children, or grandchildren. The first astronauts are already being selected and trained for their missions. The settlement of Mars has given us the opportunity to create a diverse and equitable community. To be able to accomplish this, an unbiased, racially and sexually equitable, a non discriminatory selection process must be created.
In The Outer Space Treaty, Article I states: “Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.”
Currently space has been dominated by white european males. Out of 537 astronauts only 60 of them have been women. Of the 336 Americans who have been to space, only
4% were black and less than 3% were latino. The world has not solved racial prejudice, it is simply less tolerated, especially among highly educated people. But those racial values are not ones that should exist in an international organization of highly educated individuals. If this keeps following its trend we can see that space is and will never be a diverse program. We need to change this selection process and make a change for our near future. The Mars One Board of Advisors is a highly educated international team qualified to oversee the future establishment of human settlement on Mars.
The members are experts in their field covering every field necessary for human survival. However, from the 30 members on the board, only two are educated in law or development. The social aspect of human life has seemingly been forgotten. The board of advisors has no experts in equity, social conduct, or sociology. The issues that plague earth will not be solved if there is no preparation or thought of the societal issues bound to arise on Mars. For the selection process to be unbiased and equally fair, the advisors overseeing this process must themselves be diverse and educated in equity or policy and knowledgeable of social development . This is to advocate for diversity and equality among the first astronauts to establish a settlement. The goal of this board is to essentially establish and maintain an socially equal settlement. Different perspectives will allow the board to consider aspects of society from different cultures and cognitive
biases. We must work together as a whole to raise awareness and form a team that will be open minded, collaborative, and diverse. By signing this petition you will be supporting a non-discriminatory selection process with an equitable diverse community as an outcome.
We will be working closely to ensure that the signatures on this petition add further pressure and momentum in this movement to set up an equities future beyond planet Earth in our solar system.