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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:17AM
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
NASA seems hell bent to go to Mars, but can't afford to on its own.
Its international partners have no stomach for that — they would would rather return to our moon and build a base there for further exploration.
Doesn't going back to the moon make more sense? Build a base on the moon, and use its low gravity and possible water at the poles as propellant for further space exploration?
Why not the moon first?
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/7/11868840/moon-return-journey-to-mars-nasa-congress-space-policy
Links:
From NASA itself, in 2008: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/series/moon/why_go_back.html
The all-knowing, ever-trustworthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
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Should We Skip Mars for Now and Go to the Moon Again?
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the human condition is a fool.
-- Albert Camus
(Score: 3, Informative) by esperto123 on Wednesday June 08 2016, @11:24AM
I like the bold statements from Elon Musk and all, and he and his company are doing some great things to advance space exploration, but this stance to colonize mars is, IHMO, a very stupid thing.
The trip to mars is long, and in a environment where no humans have being for so long (we are protected from radiation by earth magnetosphere), and to top it off you will be pretty much at least a year away from any supply run if something bad happens.
It is definitely more logical to test the technology first on the moon, where you can get to, or came back, in less than a week if something happens, the communication links would be much faster, and you could iterate your technology at a higher pace and lower cost. And if you take in consideration that the mars atmosphere is so thin and temperature so low that you couldn't be outside without full gear, it would be no different than the moon...
But i guess they probably took that in consideration and weighted against the marketing value of saying that they will step on another planet, where no human has ever gone, instead of going to where people have stepped a dozen times 50 years ago.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 08 2016, @12:02PM
If SpaceX is sending unmanned (is there a better substitute for this word?) missions to Mars first, perhaps they are considering building the base on Mars with robots first and then sending humans when they know the base is viable. It's what I'd do.
There are people who are working on ways to build concrete using Martian regolith. Combine that with 3D printing and you could form habs and pressurize them. Or you could excavate and make subterranean (subMartian?) dwellings. It would be extremely technically challenging, but it's possible with the tech we have now.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday June 08 2016, @03:29PM
> unmanned (is there a better substitute for this word?)
Robotic?
Automated?
Meat-free?
Unpersonned?
Castrated?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 08 2016, @08:24PM
I sense a SNL Delta Delta Delta skit coming on.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 08 2016, @03:40PM
Apparently not, since unpersonned microaggresses against daughters just as much as unmanned microaggresses against women.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:03PM
Or skip the 3D printing entirely as too much gratuitous complexity. Inflate habitat-sized balloon. Slather with concrete. Install airlock. Habitat created by a bunch of people with a high-gradient air pump and some shovels in a couple of days. We do it on Earth all the time. For added durability integrate some sort of high-strength "net" into the early layers of concrete to help balance the pressurization of the interior.
The balloon could even be reusable - once the structure is in place you only need to coat the interior with some sort of gas-impermeable layer. Nanocellulose maybe? The airlocks are really the only particularly sophisticated technology required.
(Score: 2) by CirclesInSand on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:34PM
unmanned (is there a better substitute for this word?)
No. We all know what unmanned means.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 11 2016, @09:09AM
Underground is the best option. Then the layers of rock over the living environment will provide a shield for the radiation.