By ALEX SILVERMAN
KIRO Radio

When the Europeans came to colonize North America, most of them knew they would never see their homes again. Now, a Washington State professor thinks we should take that same approach to outer space.

Astrobiology professor Dirk Schulze-Makuch has co-authored a paper entitled "To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars," in which he argues that the first step to a colonization effort is to bring humans to the Red Planet "who actually stay over there," he said.

So what's wrong with a round trip? For one, the cost, says Schulze-Makuch. "It cost so much for people to launch from Mars and bring people back," he said. "It would cut the cost by 80 percent."

Also, he said, long voyages in outer space can lead to health problems upon returning to earth. "You avoid that when you leave the people right away on Mars," he said. Plus, it would ensure the continuation of the program, "unlike the Apollo missions where we went and came back and that was it."

"There's this kind of overly safe kind of culture," he said. "We don't want to boldly do something. We want to go really slowly."

We don't have much choice in the matter, Schulze-Makuch said. "As a species, as life on this planet, we have to start looking at other planets to spread out," he said.

But it's not all doom and gloom. "Whoever volunteers would have basically a whole planet to explore," he said, starting to sound like a travel agent. "You can even have temperatures up like 68 Fahrenheit during the day on Mars."

When asked if he thinks anyone would actually volunteer to be an extra-terrestrial guinea pig, Schulze-Makuch was optimistic. "When I ask in lectures, there are many people who would right away sign up," he said.

But would he leave Earth behind? "Not right now," he admitted. "First I have to raise my kids."

Follow Alex Silverman on twitter @alexsilverman
KIRO Radio's Lisa Brooks contributed to this story.