Originally posted by uberarcanist
Alright, Iori, WHY do you think that Mars missions will go down in cost in the next ten years?
I did'nt say the next ten years, I said the next few decades, as in 20-40 years.
And because by that time we will already have established a permanent lunar base,
and having a ship launching form the Moon is much more cost effective than
launching it form the Earth, since the larger it is the more power you need to get it into orbit,
however since the Moon's gravity is so much lighter it requires less energy to leave its gravity field.
Another way that would make it cheaper is to launch a set of vehicles, unloaded
from Earth into orbit or Lunar orbit and assemble them, than get resources
from the Moon, which would again require less energy since you don't have
to send all the supplies up.
I would also like to add that humans can do far better science than can automated probes. Heck, they might even break ground on a permanent base.
Which science, exactly, I mean I know there are some things that Humans are just generally
better at than a computer, like for instance a Human may find life where a computer that
had previously been programmed not to see life a certain way might not, but most
science can be done just as good if not better and for a lesser cost by automated
probes and rovers, plus those probes and rovers teach us about the planet so that
when we do go there we're prepared.
And just going there just to plant a flag and collect a few rocks like the Apollo missions
is an idiotic idea, so I'd be hoping that the first Manned Martian mission was the beginning
of a permanent manned Martian base.
