Quote:
Originally Posted by razark
(Post 2266550)
Sending the equipment ahead of time is a great idea. I liked Robert Zubrin's idea of sending not only the supplies, but the return vehicle and an in situ fuel production system. The idea is to not commit to sending people until you know the supplies and return trip are ready.
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Zubrin is fantastic, he really has a passion for the Mars mission that's quite infectious. Some of his ideas probably wouldn't stick, but a lot of them are very good and worth NASA or some space agency looking into.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman
(Post 2266551)
I know its a great dream and I am not even qualified to say anything but the first things that come to mind is that you would have to increase the gravity, have some sort of magnetosphere, and maybe not even a breathable atmosphere but something that would burn up meteorites, seems impossible and just doomed to disaster sending people there.
Maybe an epic novel will come out of it to rival "Voyage of the James Caird"
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You're as qualified as the rest of us to say something. :salute:
A breathable, thicker atmosphere can be created, just as ours was, it just takes time and effort. Until then mankind can (and will) adapt to the environment, it won't be easy and it will be heavily reliable on Earth for supplies and equipment, however in time they will be capable of self-sustainability, and then eventually they will be capable of exporting goods back to Earth, raw materials to power our gradual expansion into the solar system.
We're at a very fragile stage of our development right now, that meteor which streaked low and exploded over Russia the other year really should be a wake up call for humanity. All our eggs are in one basket, and that basket is called Earth, we get hit with a big enough rock and it's goodnight Irene. By spreading ourselves out we reduce the chances of a civilization ending event (eventually we'll create other ways to possibly kill ourselves off, but that'll be a few generations to go) as well as help spread out our burgeoning population.
Certainly the first decade of manned Mars missions will probably be little more than scientific research and prestige gathering, but after that...that's when the real work begins. I hope to see it in my lifetime. :yep: |
