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The discussion of not yet having a return vehicle for a trip to Mars reminds me of a Reddit AMA with a Russian engineer through his grandson. There he claims hi
by Radix 15y ago
The discussion of not yet having a return vehicle for a trip to Mars reminds me of a Reddit AMA with a Russian engineer through his grandson. There he claims his Grandfather worked on a plan to send an astronaut to Mars orbit then return, but there was a second and favored plan with which the astronaut would land on the surface, walk around, then die.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/etu2s/i_was_born_in_shchigry_ru_in_1932_i_worked_as_a/c1ax3x1 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/etu2s/i_was_born_in_sh...
I wonder how it would be received if the goal was to create a permanent settlement on Mars rather than returning.
- robryan 15y agoI think if we are technologically capable of it, it's a much better plan than return. A kind of 6 months on the surface, return ASAP mission would probably go down like Apollo in that those funding it would be like well that's done now and building on that one mission could take decades again.
- roc 15y agoThe other benefit to a settlement plan, is that you could send the habitat and tools ahead of time, to be assembled by robots. Which implies multiple missions, which lowers per-mission weight requirements, and allows for habitat tests prior to having human life (and larger, more temperamental resources) on the line and for fixes to be bundled in subsequent missions.