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

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...