[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by jimbomaybe

I don't think there was any altruistic or scientific motivation on the part of the Spanish Crown, not finding a shorter way to the orient they lucked out and raped, pillaged and plundered the native americans to their great proffit, as for growing plants it would take a huge amount of energy to keep spaces warm enough for plants to grow , lacking a magnetic field the solar wind would keep draining away your atmosphere and produce much more radiation than most plants could stand

Growing food on Mars seemed very doable on the Martian.