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I see that Mars One will be using the SpaceX vehicles. I wonder if Elon Musk will be fine with this, because as far as I see it, it is actually undermining the
by lumberjack 14y ago
I see that Mars One will be using the SpaceX vehicles. I wonder if Elon Musk will be fine with this, because as far as I see it, it is actually undermining the competitive spirit of the race for Mars which is more about building the better technology than actually setting the foot there first just to get your name on the history books. For someone as devoted to offering real technological innovation, as Elon Musk is, it would probably smack a bit of cheating.
- akiselev 14y agoThe obstacle of going to Mars has long since been a problem of desire and not technology. Obviously better radiation shielding, drugs that reduce the negative effects of zero-g, nuclear propulsion, and other technologies would reduce the risk of failure but at the end of the day going to Mars is a massive engineering and logistics problem. A good analogy (I think) would be the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Sure it is trivial to build today with our technology, as (I hope) it will be trivial to travel to Mars in the distant future, but the reason its a great wonder of the world is because, despite a lack of modern technology, it was built as a national engineering project that spanned decades. Just like a mission to Mars, it was a daunting task (one that required a generation or two of slaves perhaps) that was pulled off through pure grit.
- nitrogen 14y agoMusk himself said he would like to die on Mars: "“I will go if I can be assured that SpaceX would go on without me . . . I've said I want to die on Mars, just not on impact.” (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/03/elon-musk-die-mars http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/03/elon-musk-die...)