[Ciaphas Cain]

Moon? Cool. But Mars? Lots of new evidence lately that it would practically be a death sentence for any human sent that long distance. Arriving at Mars while covered in tumors isn’t going to appeal to many people.

[crosdaddy]

Might appeal to the Martians, more to nibble on.

[dfwgator]

I thought it would have been "President" Schwarzenegger that would have us going to Mars....

[Fiji Hill]

Moon? Cool. But Mars? Lots of new evidence lately that it would practically be a death sentence for any human sent that long distance. Arriving at Mars while covered in tumors isn’t going to appeal to many people.

"If God intended we should go to Mars, why'd he put it so far away?"--Billy Hughes

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Before we went to the moon there was a lot of "new evidence" that the lander would sink into the dust that MUST have accumulated on the lunar surface, never to be seen again. And then there was the trip through the Van Allen belt that would assuredly result in early death at best and instant death at worse.

People have always cried that any new exploration is doomed to failure and death. Sometimes they are even right. If Columbus had not chanced to run into the Americas he would have killed off his entire crew.

But people keep flinging themselves into the abyss flapping their arms as hard as they can. It is what is programed into human nature. And mostly we, against all odds, manage to fly.

[logi_cal869]

I have to pose this: Why are most people intentionally-ignorant of cosmic rays and the protection afforded by our magnetosphere?

Underground Moon bases are one thing: We can mine H3. Mars is a one-way trip with current technology.

Even educated millenials fall for this crap; I just don’t understand why, but neither do I understand stupid...I just know that it exists.

[Nateman]

practically be a death sentence ...

People have spent months in orbit and have come back OK .

[Olog-hai]

Well, the risk of leukemia is what’s usually touted for such space missions, FWICS.

[Does so]

Arriving at Mars while covered in tumors isn’t going to appeal to many people.

...Unless we send volunteers who already have tumors...

[PIF]

Don't know about tumors, but due to the length of the voyage, they certainly will arrive blind.
Space Is Ruining Astronauts' Eyesight And No One Knows Why

[grania]

I remember a Disney cartoon back in the 1950s, when I was in elementary school. In it, we "learned" that man could never go to the moon because people in space ships would bounce uncontrolled inside the space ship. The other "problem" was liquids. Molecules, without gravity, would become dangerous weapons that would make the vehicle unsafe, as spacemen bounced around and were constantly pelted with molecules of liquid.

Just sayin'....