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Now, I was much too lazy to read the article, but reading through the comments here I must ask: Why not send the necessary supplies, equipment, and essentials n

Now, I was much too lazy to read the article, but reading through the comments here I must ask: Why not send the necessary supplies, equipment, and essentials now, on unmanned craft's, and once all the important items are present in Mars we then send humans?

mburns 11y ago
That is indeed the first detail of the first proposal mentioned (Mars Direct). It doesn't fundamentally change the equation, and loads the project with upfront costs.