"Get your ass to Mars!"
Posted on 03/04/2009 10:54:57 AM PST by AreaMan
Sorry, Barack is too busy taxing and printing money for us to do any of that.
Ping.
Paging Bob Zubrin....
I volunteer my mother-in-law!
Regards,
There was an article I read a while back about suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge where they said among people who survive the fall, it’s not uncommon for them to report regretting their choice after they jump. It would be pretty awful to get fired toward Mars and then regret the choice on the way there or once getting there because there would be no changing it.
Bama would demand that at least two be sent. One to do the exploring and the other to collect taxes from him to bring home.
It’s no different than the days of the Pilgrims and pioneers; there was no going back to the Old Country for most of them—like it or lump it, the New World was home.
You’re right. It was in a New Yorker article, which was the inspiration for a documentary called “The Bridge,” which filmed, over the course of the year, 23 of the 24 suicides off the Golden Gate.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/10/13/031013fa_fact
Basically, the costs are too high and NASA will never address that issue, just perpetuate it.
Private enterprise will address costs, but it will take time, also the whole issue of sending one person to Mars to stay is based on cost.
Solve that and these choices become irrelevant, we can send a team of scientists on round trips routinely- if it’s economical.
Even the rationales change when costs become reasonable, we no longer have to rationalize why it’s worth it on a national level if the costs are reasonable, it would only be a budgetary afterthought that doesn’t even have to benefit America, if its economical enough, it only has to benefit the company or consortium of companies doing it.
Maybe it could be a small group of people instead of just one. But even if it is only one person I believe there are men out there with the mental toughness and enormous steel nads required to meet this challenge.
Might I suggest a few candidates?
I nominate The 0ne and The Ballerina.
Robinson Crusoe of Mars?
The Pilgims and pioneers didn’t make a solo trip, didn’t view what they were doing as a suicide mission, and weren’t doing it just for the experience. Apples and oranges.
Who wants to go on a “death-sentence”: NO THANKS!
No one’s talking about a suicide mission to Mars; they’re talking about one man going first and setting up housekeeping for an extended period before other settlers arrive.
But they are indeed talking about no return trips for a very long time.
This is just how America was settled—google the coureurs du bois, for instance.
I don't give very good odds for his survival. He seems to think that while the Moon is a barren desert, Mars is a paradise. For example:
men have been to the Moon on six trips, and it’s a horrible place. The high vacuum lunar environment is more hostile to life than the low-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere on Mars. There’s also the two weeks of lunar darkness every month, heavy solar radiation, extreme cold in the shadows that face deep space, and searing heat on surfaces that face the sun. These problems don’t exist on Mars. The sharp-edged dust on the Moon will damage mechanical devices and irritate the lungs of explorers. The dust on Mars is more like that on earth—smooth since it’s wind-blown.
The atmosphere of Mars isn't even thick enough to provide complete protection from cosmic rays; it practical terms, you'll need a pressure vessel and suit to work on Mars just as you would on the Moon. The martian surface temperature seldom rises above freezing; Antarctica in winter has a more benign climate. As Mars is farther from the sun, solar arrays won't cut it for power; he'll need a nuclear reactor for reliable surface electrical power. Oh yes, that's not yet available and it'll cost billions of dollars to build one.
The last one is my favorite -- "Nice smooth Mars dust" as compared to the abrasive, angular lunar dust. What he doesn't mention is the presence of toxic chemicals like peroxides in the martian soil, which when enhaled, would soon render your bronchia into a bloody mess. Hack up your lungs like Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
A silly, poorly thought-out piece.
This piece is full of holes. Plus I don’t go in for anything that looks like state-supported suicide.
I’m sure that this former NASA-engineer is a smart guy & knows well the costs involved in getting to the Red Planet with current technology. But I would think that we don’t know enough about the chemistry & potential biology of Mars to rate an individual’s chances for longterm survival.
"Get your ass to Mars!"
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