Prof Urges Space Colonization

Mankind's destiny is to colonize the solar system, said Professor of Applied Astronomy George B. Field yesterday at a lecture sponsored by the Harvard Space Research Group.

Speaking before a crowd of 35 in Boylston Auditorium, he urged the United States to cooperate with other countries in establishing a permanent colony on Mars.

Field shared his experience as a member of the Paine Commission, which was established by Congress to assess the future of the U.S. space program over the next 40 years. "The commission could see no reason to limit humanity to the Earth," said Field. "We immediately began talking in terms of settling the solar system."

For a number of reasons, the commission determined that Mars was the most appropriate site for a human colony.

Field contended that the cost of such a colony would not be prohibitive. "The amount of money we're talking about is trivial. We can go to Mars for 5 to 10 percent of the defense budget."

The United States cannot regard the colonization of space as an international competition, according to Field. "We should not race anyone anywhere. We should not make a dash as we did to the North Pole, the South Pole or the Moon. We should not have another Apollo-like program."

Field believes that the colonization of Mars could be accomplished in a spirit of global cooperation, with several nations contributing technology to the project.

The Harvard Space Research Group, which sponsored Field's lecture, is a five-year-old undergraduate organization dedicated to keeping students abreast of space-related news.