ZikZak wrote:
Mars differs from the Moon in that it is actually or could be made to
be permanently habitable by a large number of humans. Mars has plenty
I don't see why. In either case, we'd have to live in pressurized environments.
of its own natural energy sources, such as solar and geothermal heat,
The Moon beats Mars by a long shot for solar power.
making it fine as a "lifeboat" for our own planet (although hopefully
it won't come to that). A Mars colony could without a doubt be self-
sufficient. One of my firends from graduate school is proving that
I have a doubt. I have many of them. The supply line is just too long.
If you could send everything a colony would ever need in one ship, then
I guess it would be possible, but that's a big 'if'.
right now on Devon Island, Canada (which has roughly the same climate
as Mars: see www.marsonearth.org). As for sending industrial products
It's "roughly" the same climate as the Moon too. In other words, not
"roughly" the same at all.
back to Earth, it's much easier and cheaper to fly from Mars to Earth
than it is the other way around. There's no reason to think that a
Unless there happens to be a Kennedy Space Center on Mars, I think
you'd have trouble making that case.
Mars colony could be self sufficient almost immediately and then
(after some long time) eventually profitable.
A colony on Mars is untenable for many reasons. The major one being
its distance. The Moon is a quarter of a million miles away. We can get
there in 3 days. Mars is 44 million miles away. The best guess for a manned
Mars mission would take 5 months travel.
We've proven we can go to the Moon. There are lots of ideas out there to
even make it profitable (look up Helium 3). Going back to the Moon makes
good sense, scientifically and economically. Let's not make the same
mistakes again and spend money on doomed and unsound projects such as
the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Mars sounds nice, but
it would be a boondoggle at the expense of true space exploration and
colonization.
--
Don Poitras