3 ms·

This is an interesting idea and I wouldn't mind seeing it, but it's also a year and a half old. There have been rebuttals published far and wide, including in t

This is an interesting idea and I wouldn't mind seeing it, but it's also a year and a half old. There have been rebuttals published far and wide, including in the WaPo itself three days later: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/16/AR2008071602238.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07... Why the repost, if I might ask? A couple of quick searches have turned up no noise from Benson himself on the topic since then.

panic 17y ago
Human missions to Mars will not be just a bit harder than a trip to the Moon and back, which takes a matter of days. They will be incredible multi-year journeys -- more like the voyages of Magellan than Apollo. This seems like hyperbole to me. Getting to Mars takes less than a year.
- InclinedPlane 17y ago
  There's no civilization on Mars, yet, getting to Mars isn't the end of the journey, it's just the start. The total journey to Mars, on Mars, and back to Earth will be multi-year.
  - robryan 17y ago
    I think mars is one of those places where if we ever want to get there we will have to come up with a first mission that doesn't pass current safety standards. I think it's such a big undertaking that to plan for all circumstances wouldn't allow the mission to happen for a long time. Thing's like no rescue if something went wrong and only accounting for one launch window back to earth,