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Is there a reason to want a sustained human presence on Mars? I heard about using it as a rest stop on longer trips but couldn't any science be done on a per tr
by comrh 12y ago
Is there a reason to want a sustained human presence on Mars? I heard about using it as a rest stop on longer trips but couldn't any science be done on a per trip basis?
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoSure you can go half-way. But that's optimum if you value human life over all other considerations. However, there are people who are willing to take risks, and those people can drive the cost of science, development and colonization down by an order of magnitude. You just have to accept the mortal risks involved with launching an outpost using unproved equipment in an unknown environment. Then there's the benefit if they survive. Not only a 2nd human population in the galaxy, which increases the odds of long-term human survival by some huge margin. But the inspiration they give to others that it can be done. Who knows what would come next? Moons of Jupiter? Venus?