The issue of manned space exploration poses challenges of fundamental importance for science, including the broader connection between electromagnetism and the development of the biosphere as a whole, as the biosphere was first defined as a unique cosmic phenomenon by the biogeochemist Vladimir Vernadsky. What effect does weak background radiation have on organisms? What does this tell us about the fundamental nature of matter and energy? These and other questions are at the heart of a true mission for interplanetary travel and colonization. See also Oyang Teng, Onward to Mars: The Triumph of the Weak Forces.