Next stop Mars!

[mindlight]

First of all, gravity could be simulated by a rotation ship that would generate the neccessary centrifugal force.

Also, there have been promising studies into vibration therapy as a means to combat bone loss during extensive bed rest, which might also translate into helping astronauts.

Good Vibrations | Science Mission Directorate

Cool find with the bone loss therapy. Obviously that has spin off benefits for health care on earth also.

 

[Desk trauma]

We are spending more money on frivolous projects ...

Quipped the commenter using technology from earlier versions of this frivolity...

What does this have to do with Mars? That was mainly what my comment was aimed at. People are not only wanting to send men to Mars, but some absurdly want to find ways to make it habitable. They rather research more about some distant planet than study our own...

And? Is spacex somehow sabotageing earth science research?

 

[High Fidelity]

The SpaceX timetable has suggested 2024.

I'd love to see it happen but I don't see it happening that soon.

 

[Goonie]

The first manned flight to Mars will in all likelihood be a suicide mission. From radiation to meteorites, to simple mechanical breakdown it is hard to imagine a successful mission.

 

[mindlight]

The first manned flight to Mars will in all likelihood be a suicide mission. From radiation to meteorites, to simple mechanical breakdown it is hard to imagine a successful mission.

NASA and most other space agencies planning a mission obviously disagree with your assessment. There has been an enormous amount of research into the long term effects of space flight and there are viable solutions to most of these issues. Also the scale of the SpaceX solution speaks in its favour. NASA are planning lifts of 20-30 tonnes with each flight but the SpaceX vision could be as high as 150 tonnes of stuff. With 6 flights planned in the 2022-24 window that is a lot of material to set up a viable base and also propellant plant.

Suicide is people knowing they will not come back, but the planning and hope is that return is possible. So this is not a suicide flight even if there are a lot of potential risks.

 

[The Transcendentian]

Someone still has to invent artificial gravity, first...

Artificial gravity: two space capsules, attached by a 3000ish ft cable, spinning around each-other so that the acceleration felt at the far edge of each capsule is about 0.9g (g is one Earth gravity).

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

What does this have to do with Mars? That was mainly what my comment was aimed at. People are not only wanting to send men to Mars, but some absurdly want to find ways to make it habitable. They rather research more about some distant planet than study our own...

It is a dream , a goal. Something people can get behind of and the stars are the future.

Being a multiplanetary species is also good survival strategy and technological investments will pay for themselves when we start mining asteroid belt and setting up orbital manufacturing.

Also I would venture we will find greater wonders among the stars then we will find at the bottom of our oceans. The fruits of space exploration will also undoubtedly yield results we can use to understand and explore our own planet as well.

 

[Archivist]

What does this have to do with Mars? That was mainly what my comment was aimed at. People are not only wanting to send men to Mars, but some absurdly want to find ways to make it habitable. They rather research more about some distant planet than study our own...

As planets go, Mars isn't exactly distant.