Why Werner Herzog Thinks Human Space Colonization 'Will Inevitably Fail'

Last Exit: Space is a new documentary on Discovery+ exploring the possibility of humans colonizing planets beyond Earth, reports Ars Technica.. "Since it is produced and narrated by Werner Herzog and written and directed by his son Rudolph, however, it goes in a different direction than your average space documentary. It's weird, beautiful, skeptical, and even a bit funny...."

The reality of life on Mars would be sobering, he says. Along the way, Last Exit: Space follows a pattern. There is a problem that might make space travel impossible. The most promising solution to that problem was developed by modern science and engineering. It brings the dream crashing back down to Earth with a sad tale of why the solution won&t work. The film As Last Exit: Space explores the logistics of a possible 5,000-year journey to Alpha Centauri, asking wild questions that touch matters of the human spirit. Is it possible to have a hibernation? A non-hibernating skeleton crew could function in a sane way. How would the human act of copulation play out in terms of being a reduced-gravity exercise, and genetically, if a ship can't hold at least 40,000 colonists to keep the gene pool diverse? As you hear from Lucian Walkowicz, an astronomer in the film, it is very clear that we should not behave like locusts who are hogging everything empty here. There is something not right to shift our population to other planets, and it is a part of all the ethical questions. Space colonization will fail. It's inevitable. You can't go to the next Alpha Centauri exoplanet that is 200,000 years away. Period. The filmmakers make it clear that they admire and appreciate efforts to understand space and our universal neighbors. Walkowicz's film-ending pitch was that there is already a cross-generational spaceship operating right now. If I had the chance, I would go on a mission to Mars. I want to stop my dad. Please do not encourage him on this. I want him to live on Earth.