Kim Stanley Robinson's vision to become reality?

[razark]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

- You die a horrible death, or Nasa calls the whole thing off and blows its last wad of cash to bring everyone home.

I simply don't see NASA setting up a mission without a plan to bring them back. It would tie up resources and funds for years, and when added in, make the cost of the mission much higher and eliminating the advantage of a one-way mission.

However, if someone could set up private funding for such a venture, it could be quite interesting.