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I don't see how it can be made feasible to return humans from Mars for a very long time. Think about the expenditure and infrastructure required to launch a veh

I don't see how it can be made feasible to return humans from Mars for a very long time. Think about the expenditure and infrastructure required to launch a vehicle to escape velocity on earth. Shipping that kind of equipment to Mars seems like a undertaking so many times larger than a few rovers. And I don't see how a one way trip would be politically/ethically possible. edit: This sounds negative. All things considered; We have to try though. But perhaps knowing that we can have a sustainable settlement have to be the step zero of space colonization.

danielweber 14y ago
NASA's Mars Reference Mission [1] calls for landing an un-fueled return vehicle on Mars and then manufacturing fuel. In-situ production or not, any sane humans-to-Mars mission is going to involve landing a bunch of equipment at the landing site ahead of time. The marsnauts are going to have very complete maps of their new home before they even launch from Earth. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Design_Reference_Mission_3.0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Design_Reference_Mission_3...