Part of the TED series: How We'll Live on Mars It sounds like science fiction, b ut award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek considers it fact: within 20 years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book tha t mixes business, science and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that livi ng on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity, and explains in fascinatin g detail just how it will happen. It's clear that the race is on. Private compan ies (driven by iconoclastic entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson ); Dutch reality show/space mission Mars One; NASA and the Chinese government ar e among the many groups competing to plant the first stake on Mars and open the door for human habitation. For Elon Musk, it's the ""ultimate awesome thing."" For other entrepreneurs, it's about competition and opportunity. For NASA, the Chin ese government and the leagues of other private companies and foreign nationals racing to get to Mars, there are more urgent reasons as well: life on Mars has p otential life-saving possibilities for us on earth. Depleting water supplies, ov erwhelming climate change and a host of other disasters - from terrorist attacks to meteor strikes - all loom large. We must become a space-faring species to su rvive. In this close-up narrative chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of l ively characters all engaged in a big-money, big-drama effort to expand the limi ts of human knowledge - and life - by being the first to settle on the Red Plane t.How We'll Live on Marsbrings first-hand reporting, interviews with key players and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can best, and most pla usibly, expect to see life on Mars - within the next 20 years. Petranek can also be seen discussing his fascinating ideas in his TEDTalk 10 Ways The World Could End.