Originally posted by ian990003100
Being a little bit of a business man i would not throw money at something that is dead in the water....The whole moon mars budget would probably pay
for a trip to Europa were a team could set up base....
You're talking about a manned mission to Europa? I don't think so. It would be a very long trip. You'd need to bring tons and tons of supplies just
for the trip there, let alone for the stay time and the trip back. If any problems were to happen, no help could be sent in time. Plus a mission to
Europa would have to deal with the long term effects of radiation in space. The whole point of setting up a base on the Moon is to learn more about
these things and how to live in a harsh environment for long periods of time and to improve our technology and understanding of how to do it. We have
to set up a base on the Moon first, before trying it anywhere else.
Also, I would imagine that a manned mission to Europa would cost a lot more than the planned missions to the Moon and Mars. It's just not feasible at
this point in time.
It's the only logical mission....
No it's not, not for a manned mission anyway. For robotic exploration, yes.
It maybe cheaper to send man to the moon to say hey look what we can do but it's tired now we need to move on.
I think you miss the whole point of sending people to the Moon. Like I said before. We need to learn how to live and survive in that harsh environment
first. The Moon is close and easily accessible. It's perfect for setting up the first off world bases. It makes perfect logical and financial sense
to do it. A manned mission to Europa does not.